Description
This excerpt from a book discusses the changes in feminist thought that have occurred in the last two decades, and how these changes have affected the way we think about gender. The book discusses a gender-free case, which is a case where the person's gender is not assigned by society. The book discusses how this case can be interesting to psychoanalysts because it challenges the assumptions that are made about gender.
The last two decades of psychoanalytic discourse have witnessed a marked transformation in the way we think about women and gender. The assignment of gender carries with it a host of assumptions, yet without it we can feel lost in a void, unmoored from the world of rationality, stability and meaning. The feminist analytic thinkers whose work is collected here confront the meaning established by the assignment of gender and the uncertainty created by its absence. The articles brought together in Psychoanalytic Reflections on a Gender-free Case: Into the Void address a cross-section of significant issues that have both chronicled and facilitated the changes of the last two decades of feminist psychoanalysis. Difficult issues which have previously been ignored (such as the pregnancy of the therapist or sexual abuse regarded as more than a fantasy) are considered first. The book goes on to address family perspectives as they interact and shape the child's experience of growing up male or female. Other topics covered are the authority of personal agency as influenced by the language and theory of patriarchy, male-centered concepts that consistently define women as inferior, and the concept of gender as being co-constructed within a relationship. Thus the authors explore the notion of gender identity as an ongoing negotiation among multiple gendered selves. The gender-free case presented here will fascinate all psychoanalysts interested in exploring ways of grappling with the elusive nature of gender, as well as those studying gender studies.
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