Women and Individuation: Emerging Views

ISBN: 9780898851342

定价: 30.00

内容简介

In the last two decades Freud s views on women have been subject to
careful scrutiny and refl)rmulation both within and outside
psychoanalysis.
In the wake of the social??? economic??? and political revolution of
our times??? tile foundations of the traditional patriarchal family have
been shaken??? changing radically the relationships between men and
women. Whether driven by economic necessity or the need for crea-
tive self expression??? women of all classes now participate at all levels of
society in a wide variety of occupations and life styles. The impact of
this tumultuous change on women s consciousness??? individuation??? and
self-image is a major preoccupation of social scientists who are on the
torefront of the debate concerning the psychoanalytic theory of
feminine development.
Within psychoanalysis itself??? clinicians turn increasingly to empir-
ical studies of child development to validate??? refute??? or rework Freud s
ideas. This endeavor is in the spirit of Freud s own insistence upon the
value of direct observation. Yet??? it has led to a paradox whereby the
same evidence is often used by different theorists both to confirm and
disprove classical theory. As if this were not confusing enough??? a
highly articulate group??? following Lacan s view that psychoanalysis is
an interpretative discipline??? dismiss empirical proof as irrelevant for
psychoanalysis.
While the controversy on methodology rages??? a proliferation of
studies on women s individuation have poured forth??? generated by
the ferment within psychoanalysis. The new formulations are the
outgrowth of the changing perspectives on narcissism??? the increased
understanding of the preoedipal years??? the work on attachment be-
havior and the mother-child dyad??? and??? most recently??? the influential
studies of gender identity formation.
Foremost among the new ideas is Stoller s concept of a core gen-
der identity that revives and extends Jones s and Horney s objections
to Freud s normative psychosexual stages for women. A core gender
identity represents an awareness each child develops of being either