Female Sexuality

New Psychoanalytic Views

Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780429913662
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psicología
• Subtopic: Historia y teoría en psicología

This book examines the theories of female sexuality, using the Freudian and non-Freudian approach to the unconscious. It emphasise on what in the psychoanalytic image of man matters most. The book helps fill a long-apparent need for authoritative analyses in feminine psychology and sexual identity.

Introduction

J. Chasseguet-Smirgel

Preliminary Remarks

If one considers psychoanalytical literature on female sexuality one cannot but notice a disproportion between the importance this subject necessarily commands in clinical experience—half the people analyzed are women—and the very modest role it plays in theoretical studies. This disproportion is all the more remarkable if one goes on to compare it with the anthropological ambitions of psychoanalysis.

One could argue that Freud’s discoveries in this domain are definitive, but that would be to exaggerate greatly Freud’s own estimation of his work on female psychology. Indeed, Freud was always reticent about the “dark continent” of femininity, and constantly stressed the incomplete nature of his discoveries. Although he maintained his theories on female sexuality he nevertheless left the question open. Thus, at the end of his lecture on “Femininity,” one of the last works in which he discussed this problem, he says: “If you want to know more about femininity, enquire from your own experiences of life, or turn to the poets, or wait until science can give you deeper and more coherent information.”

The debate is long-standing, Freud’s first works on femininity having already provoked strong opposition even among “orthodox” analysts; by following Freudian methods of exploring the unconscious, they often arrived at conclusions different from Freud’s own. Many analysts published the clinical experiences which led to their new hypotheses. On the other hand others followed Freud’s ideas closely, trying to confirm them or enrich them by personal contributions.

The position adopted by Ernest Jones, one of the first and most faithful disciples of Freud, his biographer, and the founder of the English psychoanalytic movement, was startling. Far from agreeing with the Freudian hypotheses, he aligned himself with the views of the “opposition” and expressed in his own conclusions his deep, but respectful, disagreement with Freud. The study of the psychoanalytical texts which reflect these divergences is interesting inasmuch as it provides a basis for reflection as well as represents an important moment in the history of psychoanalysis. But these debates, however rich and animated they may have been, never resulted in a fruitful clash of opinion, nor in a synthesis which might take into account the positive aspects of both sides. The discussion ended in deadlock. Of all the analysts who opposed Freud’s views on female sexuality, only Karen Horney broke away from Freud. Yet it is difficult to assess exactly how far she really disagreed with Freud in her final views on this topic. The Kleinians have, of course, adhered to Melanie Klein’s views on the little girl’s development as an intrinsic part of her whole theoretical system. As for “independent” analysts, that is to say the majority, some follow Freud—as much in theory as in practice—but many others, without adopting definitive doctrinaire positions, develop a variety of ideas following from their personal clinical experience.

Since the last echoes of the discussion on female sexuality died down some thirty years ago, analysts have continued to analyze women, and rich and abundant clinical material has accumulated, yet studies of female sexuality have become rarer, more sporadic, more fragmented. Certain reasons may be found for this relative gap in psychoanalytical research. The rigidity of theoretical positions probably influences subjective experience; didactic analysis does not prevent an analyst from being personally biased in a domain which, for reasons that we shall try to explain in this book, revives emotions and frightening representations as much in the theoreticians as in those with whom the theories are concerned.

It would be relatively easy to reconsider many established theories on femininity in the light of what we know about unconscious fantasies of femininity itself. It is obvious that an analyst who reflects upon such problems and develops his own views is also directly and personally involved. He must confront a number of internal and external difficulties, challenges which the first psychoanalysts, those of the twenties and thirties, did not hesitate to accept. Since then, psychoanalysis has entered a phase of maturity; psychoanalysts are no longer pioneers. They have become established. In order to achieve this they left behind the theoretical differences which could have disrupted a new movement. Undoubtedly, the fact that Freud’s ideas will be questioned in this book is not unconnected with that period of inactivity. But the time at which this attitude was important is now gone; to prolong it would be sterile and complacent. The vitality of any doctrine depends on the possibility of rethinking certain aspects without disrupting the whole structure.

The authors of the present book are united in their desire to reexamine the theories of female sexuality, using the Freudian approach to the unconscious. They hope to avoid the misleading theoretical path which attempts to approach the problems of femininity through the study of male sexuality.¹ Such an approach (whose deeper motivation I hope to examine later in this book) is detrimental to any understanding of the essence of femininity.

The present authors have attempted as far as possible to free their theoretical ideas and their clinical interpretations from the unconscious fantasies which distort scientific objectivity. Thus, Christian David tries, through the use of a clinical history, to study masculine myths about femininity. Catherine Luquet-Parat approaches “the change of object” in a personal way, attributing an important role to female masochism in the little girl’s attempt to change from the maternal object to the paternal one; Béla Grunberger examines the origins of female narcissism; Joyce McDougall shows that female homosexuality cannot be understood simply as a perversion, or a flight from man, or a rivalry with him: it must also be considered as a component of woman’s development which must be normally integrated in order to achieve a harmonious feminine nature. Maria Torok gives masculinity wishes and penis envy a role and meaning which offer a possible explanation of this problem. For my part I shall try to describe the girl’s relation with her father and discuss aspects of this relation which contribute an important dimension to female guilt.² Yet this identity in method is not an identity in theory; each of the authors contributes to this research in his own way and according to his own personal experience.

We felt that a brief historical review of Freud’s main studies on femininity, and those of his disciples as well as those of his opponents, might provide a helpful introduction. Only the most significant and the most controversial theoretical positions will be considered.

Freud’s Views on Female Sexuality

THREE ESSAYS ON THE THEORY OF SEXUALITY (1905)

(Additions made in the following editions: 1910, 1915, 1920, 1922, and 1924)

In his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality³ Freud lays the main bases for his conception of femininity, that is to say, the existence of a sexual monism for both sexes until puberty. “The assumption that all human beings have the same (male) form of genital is the first of the many remarkable and momentous sexual theories of children.” This concept is fundamental to the development of female sexuality inasmuch as the male sex organ is the only one which is acknowledged by children of both sexes: the penis for the boy, and for the girl its corresponding organ: the clitoris. In Freud’s view the clitoris is a little penis. Boys and girls believe that the world is created in their image and ignore the existence of the vagina. “The sexuality of little girls is of a wholly masculine character.” Not only is the vagina nonexistent but the role of the clitoris is an exclusive one, even in regard to other external parts of the genital area. Boys and girls both pass through three essential phases in masturbation: the nursing period, the four-year-old stage (coinciding with the height of the Oedipal complex), and puberty.

However, there comes a time that Freud seems to identify with the second phase of infantile masturbation (at the age of four), when the male child realizes that girls are not made like him, since they have no penis, while the girl realizes that she has something missing. The boy, frightened by the missing penis, sees it as a castration and fears that the same thing may happen to him; from then on he despises women. The girl also thinks she has been castrated and wishes she were a boy.

In the Three Essays, therefore, Freud postulates the existence of the castration complex in both sexes and of penis envy in girls. Yet until puberty there is no real difference between the sexes. There is no “masculine,” and no “feminine.” At puberty “the penis, which has become erectile, presses forward insistently toward the new sexual aim of penetration into a cavity. . . .” At the same time the girl represses her clitoral sexuality, that is, the masculine element of her sexuality; both sexes discover the vagina.

Although Freud stated in The Interpretation of Dreams⁴ that the Oedipus complex was the nucleus of all neuroses, yet he was still unsure as to the relation between this complex and the castration complex. He speaks of the incest barrier, but not until the 1914 article “On Narcissism, An Introduction,”⁵ did he mention the superego. However, the importance of the maternal object in early childhood and its importance for women had already been stated.

The concept of sexual monism is asserted: the little girl is a little man until the castration complex. From then till puberty all she has is a castrated penis: she remains unaware of the existence of her vagina.

THE INFANTILE GENITAL ORGANIZATION OF THE LIBIDO (1923)

(A Supplement to the Theory of Sexuality)⁶

In this article Freud completes the views of infantile sexuality expressed in the Three Essays. After many years of experience and observation he concluded that there was little difference in the organization of child and adult sexuality. Both imply the choice of an object and instinctual investment in this object. The difference lies in that adult sexuality is genital whereas child sexuality is phallic. Only one genital organ is known: the male one. Therefore, it is only in boys that one can study the consequences of this, “as far as the girl is concerned, they are little known.”

At the phallic stage the boy certainly recognizes that there is a difference between men and women, but he does not see this difference as a sexual one. He believes that everybody has a penis similar to his and tries to find this penis in things and beings. When he discovers it does not exist in a little girl of his own age, he denies this fact, but later is compelled to accept it; he then thinks this is due to castration, which leads him to fear that this might happen to him, too. The castration complex comes into being and can only be understood in relation to the primacy of the phallic phase.

The little boy, nevertheless, believes that not all women have been castrated, only those who have the same guilty desires as he. The belief in the mother’s penis and in that of women he admires continues for a long time. When he realizes that only women can bear children he gives up this idea. The observation that women do not have a penis frequently leads the boy to despise them, to be disgusted with them, or even to become homosexual. It is only at puberty that the genital stage is reached. Until then the vagina is not discovered.

Maleness signifies “subject, activity and possession of the penis”; femaleness signifies “object and passivity.”

The infantile and adult genital organization is identical with regard to the object. Until puberty “male” and “female” signify respectively “phallic” and “castrated.” The vagina is not known.

THE DISSOLUTION OF THE OEDIPUS COMPLEX (1924)⁷

In this article Freud studies the motives and the forms of the passing of the Oedipus complex for both sexes. The existence of a phallic libidinal stage with exclusion of the vagina for both is once more asserted, and its role in the structuring of the Oedipus complex is emphasized.

Freud still maintains that true genital structure only occurs at puberty. The dissolution of the boy’s Oedipal conflict is instigated by the castration complex. Real traumas are presumed to be at the origin of this complex; first of all, the male child fears he will lose his penis if he masturbates, this threat being attributed to his mother. Since the sexual excitement that leads him to masturbation is linked with his Oedipal desires, the threat of castration is associated with them. Yet this threat has no immediate effect; it is only the sight of the female genital that gives reality to the fear of castration. This becomes all the more credible as the boy can relate it to earlier experiences: the loss of the breast, and the daily loss of feces, have acquainted him with the loss of precious parts of the body (the breast being regarded initially as part of the child’s body). The male child has to face a conflict between his libidinal desires (which in the positive Oedipal position are directed toward the mother), and his narcissistic interest in his penis. Normally, the narcissistic interest prevails. The little girl’s castration complex is brought into being by the sight of the boy’s penis; this makes her feel inferior, and she compensates for her deficiency by penis envy (masculinity complex). Far from making her give up her Oedipal desires (as with the boy) the castration complex makes her turn toward her father in an attempt to replace the penis she lacks with a child; the desire to have a child by the father, as a substitute for the penis, is therefore the dynamic factor in the female Oedipus complex.

It seems as though the girl slowly turns away from the father because this desire is not fulfilled. The Oedipus complex does not end abruptly. Being already castrated, the girl does not fear castration. This plays an important role in the theory of the superego, particularly in regard to its origins and its strength. In the boy the castration complex results in the introjection of paternal or parental authority which forms the basis of the superego. The abandoned object cathexes are replaced by an identification with paternal prohibitions (in particular the prohibition of incest wishes). This process intended to save the penis has at the same time suspended its function. The child enters the latency period.

Although he acknowledges the existence of a superego in girls, Freud believes it is formed with some difficulty because of the lack of castration fear. External factors such as education, intimidation, the fe...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• A Masculine Mythology of Femininity
• Outline for a Study of Narcissism in Female Sexuality
• The Change of Object
• Feminine Guilt and the Oedipus Complex
• The Significance of Penis Envy in Women
• Homosexuality in Women
• Notes