Psychoanalysis and the Feminine

An "Other" Sex

Author: Jacqueline Schaeffer Series: Routledge Focus on Mental Health

Hardcover

Psychoanalysis and the Feminine presents Jacqueline Schaeffer's understanding of the feminine as a psychoanalytic concept.

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Summary

Psychoanalysis and the Feminine presents Jacqueline Schaeffer's understanding of the feminine as a psychoanalytic concept.

Description

Psychoanalysis and the Feminine presents Jacqueline Schaeffer's understanding of the feminine as a psychoanalytic concept.

Schaeffer considers the difference between the sexes to be the paradigm of all differences, and the basis for the repudiation of the feminine and gender theories, those that destitute or invalidate psychic bisexuality. In addition, the author proposes a number of oppositions: a feminine, constructed in relation to the masculine, which differentiates itself from the person of the woman, and also from femininity. A feminine that distinguishes itself from the phallic, which denies its existence, hates it or wants to dominate it. A feminine that is antagonistic to but not cleaved from the maternal, with which it can be harmoniously reconciled. A feminine that carries the risk of suffering, but also the chance of a destiny of openness and growth.

Psychoanalysis and the Feminine: An Other Sex will be key reading for psychoanalysts in practice and in training, and for students of psychoanalytic studies, gender studies and feminist philosophy.

Critic Reviews

‘The feminine as transgression and as the “other” by excellence, these are some of the ideas put forward in this book, which offers a deep exploration of the masculine and feminine, the difference, which is paradigmatic of all other differences, in the words of Francoise Heritier. The author is innovative, challenging and inspiring. The book is a must read for all those interested in this topic.’ - Rosine Perelberg, Distinguished Fellow, British Psychoanalytic Society; Sigourney Prize winner 2023; author, Sexualité, Excès et Représentation

‘Jacqueline Schaeffer knows very well adolescents and the intensity of the conflicts they face. She captures the essence of the complex issue of the refusal of the feminine in our society, and of the stimulating work of psychoanalytic technique with contemporary patients. She restores the body issues to central position and offers rich and radical reflections on working with young patients facing conflicts towards bisexuality that leads to the repudiation of the feminine. This is a brilliant book, exciting and very accessible: a good combination of education and psychoanalytic thinking.’ - Christine Anzieu-Premmereur, MD, PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at Columbia University; Chair IPA COCAP, Co-Founder, Pulsion Psychoanalytic Institute, New York

‘This crucial book deals with the themes of otherness, what it means to “be a woman” or “to have the sense of being a woman”, and of “being recognized as a woman”. Jacqueline Schaeffer explores their multiple facets: how girls become aware of their femininity, the censorship of the woman-as-lover, the conflict between the feminine and maternal spheres, the difference between the sexes as a paradigm of all differences, and so on. Finally, she considers the derailments or failures of the feminine sphere as taboos. All of this makes fascinating reading.’ - Marilia Aisenstein, Psychoanalyst, Paris Psychoanalytical Society (SPP) and British Association of Psychoanalysis (BRAS)

About the Author

Jacqueline Schaeffer is an honorary training and supervising analyst of the Psychoanalytical Society of Paris, France. She is former editor of the Revue Française de Psychanalyse and the Débats de psychanalyse, and a former supervisor in child and adolescent psychotherapy at the Pierre Male Child Guidance Center, Sainte Anne Hospital in Paris.