The Story of I: Perspectives on Women's Subjectivity

In this paper I wish to consider some of the ways in which maternal and paternal identifications figure in women's development, especially the aspects of identification we are able to see evolving in the analysis and the transference I have referred to the Story of I, of course, as a play on The Story of O. Putting “I” in the place of “O” is meant to evoke concern with women's subjectivity — with being for herself as a sexual subject rather than an object I am going to present two cases, and the logic of this presentation is going to highlight certain contrasts. One story, which I have discussed elsewhere, highlights the evolution of paternal identification in the transference and the integration of what I call being a subject of desire It is actually about a piece of work with idealization The other story is different not only because it emphasizes the evolution of maternal elements but because this evolution works through a mode different from identification It works through the use of the transitional space in the analytic relationship to develop a sense of self as container.

As I suggested in my discussion of woman's desire in The Bonds of Love (1988), there are two avenues or elements which inform the experience of being the subject of desire. One part, often neglected in relation to women, is the identification with a traditionally paternal subject of separation and desire for the world The other experience, often overlooked in regard to desire, is the experience of being one's own container, possessing it rather than being possessed, driven, or objectified by it My intention is to explore these two sides of experience and their interaction with maternal and paternal identifications, ultimately