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The concept of overinclusivity, according to Jessica Benjamin, refers to a stage in early life when the child is not yet able to understand the distinction between masculine and feminine. Benjamin holds that the construct of this distinction sets up an artificial binary opposition that runs counter to psychic life. To support her thesis, she examines and attempts to reevaluate developmental theory, clinical schema, and the analytic relationship.
In the traditional family constellation (which Benjamin regards as the prevalent model today) the mother is the holding and dependency figure while the father represents outside boundaries. Benjamin believes that both sexes fall in love with the father as representative of the outer world and the excitement it promises, while the mother represents power in the inner world. She uses this construct to present an alternative to the traditional oedipal/competitive view of the relationship between child and father, by giving two interpretations of a toddler greeting her father coming home from work, by saying “Out, out!” The traditional viewpoint would hold that highly competitive feelings impell the child to insist her father leave the house. Benjamin's alternative view is that the toddler is telling her father to lead her to the exciting world outside of the house—“Out! Out!”