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WHAT IS REMARKABLE ABOUT FREUD'S IDEAS on early sexuality, derived as these were largely from the analyses of adults, is that so many of them have withstood the test of time. It is less remarkable that some of his ideas require correction and modification because of new information from a variety of sources, including the direct observation of children. Direct observation can demonstrate manifestations of early female sexuality that can only be conjectured from reconstructions in adult analysis.
In reviewing his writings on early female sexuality, I shall therefore concentrate on three issues having to do with phenomena that have already been subjected to direct observational study (Stoller, 1972); (Galenson and Roiphe, 1971); (Kleeman, 1975), and contrast Freud's views with the conclusions arising from these studies.
Before proceeding to examine what Freud actually said about early female sexuality, a word concerning the desirability of restating the details of Freud's writings on this subject 70 years after they were first written: As several recent reviews have pointed out (Sherfey, 1966); (Chassaguet-Smirgel, 1970); (Fliegel, 1973), Freud's conception of women met an immediate flurry