This paper considers (1) some aspects of the lack of dialogue among psychoanalytic schools; (2) Brenner's (1982) conception of drives and drive derivatives as inextricably linked to relationships, and some of its less-appreciated implications; (3) the debate over the importance of childhood sexuality in mental life; (4) the attempts by relational theorists to address and reintegrate the role of sexuality and gender, particularly in the study of feminine psychology; (5) the problematic role of aggression in psychoanalytic theories of women; (6) the avoidance by both men and women of women's passions and their anatomical loci, especially the clitoris, whose only function is the provision of pleasure; and (7) the suggestion that an integrated theory, including an understanding of the role of the body as well as of the passions and the defenses against them, results in the most effective clinical psychoanalytic approach. It then suggests that a bridge could be built between a relational point of view that takes into consideration the role of bodily experiences, and a classical point of view in which drive is seen as inextricably linked to relationships from birth on.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ansbacher, H. L., & Ansbacher, R. R., eds. (1956). The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler. New York: Harper and Row, 1964.
2.
Benjamin, J. (1988). The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalytic Feminism and the Problem of Domination. New York: Pantheon.
3.
Benjamin, J. (1991). Father and daughter: Identification with a difference—a contribution to gender heterodoxy. Psychoanalytic Dialogues1:277–300.
4.
Benjamin, J. (1995). Like Subjects, Love Objects: Essays on Recognition and Sexual Difference. New Haven: Yale University Press.
5.
Benjamin, J. (1996a). Comment on Leon Hoffman's “Freud and Feminine Sub jectivity.” Paper presented to the New York Psychoanalytic Society, March.
6.
Benjamin, J. (1996b). In defense of gender ambiguity. Gender and Psychoanalysis1:27–43.
7.
Bowlby, J. (1960). Grief and mourning in infancy and early childhood. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child15:9–52.
8.
Braunschweig, D., & Fain, M. (1971). The phallic shadow, transl. R. Bowlby. In The Gender Conundrum: Contemporary Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Femininity and Masculinity, ed. D. Breen.London and New York: Routledge, 1993, pp. 130–144.
9.
Breen, D. (1993). Introduction. In The Gender Conundrum: Contemporary Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Femininity and Masculinity, ed. D. Breen.London and New York: Routledge, 1993, pp. 1–39.
10.
Brenner, C. (1982). The Mind in Conflict. New York: International Universities Press.
11.
Brunswick, R. M. (1940). The preoedipal phase of the libido development. In Essential Papers on the Psychology of Women, ed. C. Zanardi.New York: New York University Press, 1990, pp. 43–64.
12.
Burack, C. (1994). The Problem of the Passions: Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and Social Theory. New York: New York University Press.
13.
Burton, A. (1996). The meaning of perineal activity to women: An inner sphinxJournal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 44(suppl.):241–259.
14.
Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
15.
Chasseguet-Smirgel, J. (1964). Feminine guilt and the oedipus complex. In Essential Papers on the Psychology of Women, ed. C. Zanardi, New York: New York University Press, 1990, pp. 88–131.
16.
Chodoff, P. (1967). A critique of Freud's theory of infantile sexuality. International Journal of Psychiatry4:35–60.
17.
Chodorow, N. (1978). The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. Berkeley: University of California Press.
18.
Chodorow, N. (1980). Gender, relation, and difference in psychoanalytic perspective. In Essential Papers on the Psychology of Women, ed. C. Zanardi.New York: New York University Press, 1990, pp. 420–436.
19.
Chodorow, N. (1992). Heterosexuality as a compromise formation: Reflections on the psychoanalytic theory of sexual development. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought15:267–304.
20.
Chodorow, N. (1994). Femininities, Masculinities, Sexualities: Freud and Beyond. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.
21.
Cooper, S. H. (1996). The thin blue line of the intrapsychic-intersubjective dialectic: Commentary on papers by Gerson and Spezzano. Psychoanalytic Dialogues6:647–669.
22.
Davies, J. M. (1996). Linking the “pre-analytic” with the postclassical paradigm: Integration, dissociation, and the multiplicity of unconscious process. Contemporary Psychoanalysis32:553–576.
23.
Deutsch, H. (1960). Frigidity in women. In Neurosis and Character Types. New York: International Universities Press, 1965, pp. 358–362.
24.
Dimen, M. (1995a). Introduction to symposium on sexuality/sexualities. Psychoanalytic Dialogues5:157–163.
25.
Dimen, M. (1995b). The third step: Freud, the feminists, and postmodernism. American Journal of Psychoanalysis55:303–319.
26.
Dimen, M. (1997). Postmodern wishes, critical dreams: Some thoughts on Leon Hoffman's “Passions in girls and women: Toward a bridge between critical relational theory of gender and modern conflict theory.” Paper presented to the New York Psychoanalytic Society, February.
27.
Dimen, M., & Price, M. (1996). Feminism and postmodern psychoanaiysis. American Journal of Psychoanalysis56:357–358.
28.
Drescher, J. (1994). Interview with Stephen A. Mitchell, Ph.D. White Society Voice, 6(1).
Freud, A. (1960). Discussion of Dr. John Bowlby's paper. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child15:53–62.
36.
Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Standard Edition7:125–245.
37.
Freud, S. (1914). On the history of the psycho-analytic movement. Standard Edition14:3–66.
38.
Freud, S. (1918). The taboo of virginity. Standard Edition11:191–208.
39.
Freud, S. (1926). Inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety. Standard Edition20:77–174.
40.
Freud, S. (1930). Civilization and its discontents. Standard Edition21:59–145.
41.
Freud, S. (1931). Female sexuality. Standard Edition21:59–145.
42.
Friedman, G., & Protter, B. (1995). Gender and Sexuality. In Handbook of Interpersonal Psychoanalysis, ed. M. Lionells, J. Fiscalini, C.H. Mann, & D.B. SternHillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press, pp. 207–232.
43.
Gillespie, W. H. (1969). Concepts of vaginal orgasm. In The Gender Conundrum: Contemporary Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Femininity and Masculinity, ed. D. Breen.London and New York: Routledge, 1993, pp. 125–129.
44.
Gilligan, C. (1983). In a Different Voice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
45.
Goldner, V. (1991). Toward a critical relational theory of gender. Psychoanalytic Dialogues1:249–272.
46.
Gray, P. (1994). The Ego and Analysis of Defense. Northvale, NJ: Aronson.
47.
Gray, P. (1996). Undoing the lag in the technique of conflict and defense analysis.Psychoanalytic Study of the Child51:87–101.
48.
Green, A. (1995). Has sexuality anything to do with psychoanalysis?International Journal of Psycho-Analysis76:871–883.
49.
Green, A. (1997). Opening remarks to a discussion of sexuality in contemporary psychoanalysis. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis78:345–350.
50.
Greenberg, J. (1991). Oedipus and beyond: A clinical theory. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
51.
Greenberg, J. R., & Mitchell, S. A. (1983). Object relations in psychoanalytic theory. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
52.
Guntrip, H. (1973). Psychoanalytic Theory, Therapy, and the Self: A Basic Guide to the Human Personality in Freud, Erikson, Sullivan, Fairbairn, Hartmann, Jacobson, & Winnicott. New York: Basic Books.
53.
Harris, A. (1997). Aggression, envy, and ambition: Circulating tensions in women's psychic life. Gender and Psychoanalysis2:291–325.
54.
Hirsch, I. (1996). Observing-participation, mutual enactments, and the new classical models. Contemporary Psychoanalysis32:359–383.
55.
Hoffman, L. (1996a). Feminism and postmodern psychoanalysis. American Journal of Psychoanalysis56:355–357.
56.
Hoffman, L. (1996b). Freud and Feminine Subjectivity. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 44(suppl.):23–44
57.
Hoffman, L. (1999). Leon Hoffman on Ernest Jones: Focusing on active sexuality in women. In Female Sexuality: Contemporary Engagements, ed. D. Bassin. Northvale, NJ: Aronson, pp. 139–152.
58.
Irigaray, L. (1996). I Love to You: Sketch for a Felicity Within History, transl. A. Martin. New York and London: Routledge.
59.
Jones, E. (1927). The early development of female sexuality. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis8:459–472.
60.
Jones, E. (1933). The phallic phase. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis14:1–33.
61.
Jones, E. (1935). Early female sexuality. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis16:263–273.
62.
Jung, C. G. (1913). The oedipus complex. In C. G. Jang: Collected Works, Vol. 4. London: Routledge and Keegan Paul, 1961, pp. 151–156.
63.
Kernberg, O. F. (1992). Aggression in Personality Disorders and Perversions. New Haven: Yale University Press.
64.
Kernberg, O. F. (1995). Love Relations: Normality and Pathology. New Haven: Yale University Press.
65.
Klein, M. (1945). The oedipus complex in the light of early anxieties. In Essential Papers on the Psychology of Women, ed. C. Zanardi.New York: New York University Press, 1990, pp. 65–87.
66.
Kulish, N. (1993). The mental representation of the clitoris. Psychoanalytic Inquiry11:511–536.
67.
Lerner, H. (1976). Parental mislabeling of female genitals as a determinant of penis envy and learning inhibitions in women.Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association24(suppl.):269–283.
68.
Levy, S. T., & Inderbitzen, L. B. (1997). Safety, danger, and analytic authority. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association45:377–394.
69.
Lionells, M., Fiscalini, J., Mann, C. H., & Stern, D. B., eds. (1995). Handbook of Interpersonal Psychoanalysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
70.
Masters, W. H., & Johnson, V. E. (1966). Human Sexual Response. Boston: Little, Brown.
71.
Mayer, E. (1995). The phallic castration complex and primary femininity: Paired developmental lines toward female gender identity. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association43:17–38.
72.
McDougall, J. (1991). Sexual identity, trauma, and creativity. Psychoanalytic Inquiry11:559–581.
73.
Miller, J.B. The Construction of Anger in Women and Men. Wellesley, MA: Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies, Wellesley College.
74.
Mitchell, J. (1982). Introduction I. In Feminine Sexuality: Jacques Lacan and the Ecole Freudienne, ed. J. Mitchell and J. Rose.New York: Norton, 1982, pp. 1–38.
75.
Mitchell, S. A. (1993). Hope and Dread in Psychoanalysis. New York: Basic Books.
76.
Mitchell, S. A. (1996). Gender and sexual orientation in the age of postmodernism: The plight of the perplexed clinician. Gender and Psychoanalysis1:45–73.
77.
Mitchell, S. A. (1998a). Aggression and the endangered self. Psychoanalytic Inquiry18:21–30.
78.
Mitchell, S.A. (1998b). Personal communication, posted on the Psychoanalytic Connection.
79.
Moore, B. E., & Fine, B. D., eds. (1990). Psychoanalytic Terms and Concepts. New Haven: American Psychoanalytic Association and Yale University Press.
80.
Moulton, R. (1974). The role of Clara Thompson in the psychoanalytic study of women. In Women & Analysis: Dialogues on Psychoanalytic Views of Femininity, ed. J. Strouse.New York: Viking, pp. 278–287.
81.
Moulton, R. (1985). The effect of the mother on the success of the daughter. Contemporary Psychoanalysis21:266–285.
82.
Neubauer, P. B. (1967). Infantile sexuality and the developmental point of view. International Journal of Psychiatry4:54–56.
83.
Panel. (1976). Psychology ofwomen. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association24:141–160.
84.
Panel. (1994). Contemporary theories of female sexuality. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association42:233–241.
85.
Paskauskas, RA, ed. (1993). The Complete Correspondence of Sigmund Freud and Ernest Jones: 1908–1939. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
86.
Person, E. S. (1980). Sexuality as the mainstay of identity: Psychoanalytic perspectives. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society5:605–630.
87.
Peskin, M. M. (1997). Drive theory revisited. Psychoanalytic Quarterly66:377–402.
88.
Price, M. (1995). Gender talk: Discussion of Muriel Dimen's “Third Step.”American Journal of Psychoanalysis55:321–330.
89.
Richards, A. D., & Richards, A. K. (1995). Notes on psychoanalytic theory and its consequences for technique. Journal of Clinical Psychoanalysis4:429–456.
90.
Richards, A. K. (1996). Primary femininity and female genital anxiety.Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association44 (suppl.):261–281.
91.
Riviere, J. (1929). Womanliness as a masquerade. In The Inner World and Joan Riviere, ed. A. Hughes.London: Karnac Books, 1991, pp. 89–101.
92.
Riviere, J. (1932). Jealousy as a mechanism of defence. In The Inner World and Joan Riviere, ed. A. Hughes.London: Karnac Books, 1991, pp. 103–115.
93.
Riviere, J. (1934). Review of Sigmund Freud's “New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis.” In The Inner World and Joan Riviere, ed. A. Hughes.London: Karnac Books, 1991, pp. 117–131.
94.
Riviere, J.(1936). A contribution to the analysis of the negative therapeutic reaction. In The Inner World and Joan Riviere, ed. A. Hughes.London: Karnac Books, 1991, pp. 133–153.
95.
Schafer, R. (1997). Discussion of Leon Hoffman's “Passions in girls and women: Toward a bridge between critical relational theory of gender and modern conflict theory.” Paper presented to the New York Psychoanalytic Society, February.
96.
Shaw, R. (1995). Female genital anxieties. Journal of Clinical Psychoanalysis4:315–329.
97.
Shevrin, H. (1997). Analysis—high in feeling, low in energy. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association45:841–864.
98.
Slochower, J. A. (1996). Holding and Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
99.
Spezzano, C. (1993). Affect in Psychoanalysis: A Clinical Synthesis. Relational Perspectives Book Series Vol. 2. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
100.
Spezzano, C. (1996). Toward an intrapsychic-intersubjective dialectic: Reply to commentary. Psychoanalytic Dialogues6:675–688.
101.
Tyson, P. (1997). Sexuality, femininity, and contemporary psychoanalysis. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis78:385–389.
102.
Tyson, P., & Tyson, R. (1990). Psychoanalytic Theories of Development: An Integration. New Haven: Yale University Press.
