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PENIS ENVYsc is a concept that had made a valuable contribution to our understanding of feminine psychology. It may well be a stage through which all women pass, but it has been overemphasized and misused as a primary, basic cornerstone upon which further constructions about female development must universally rest. Penis envy is more accurately viewed as a frequent phenomenon in female sexual development which is neither primary nor universal. It plays a varying role determined by earlier predisposing factors and succeeding reinforcing ones, as well as cultural and environmental influences. Many authors have commented on the inaccuracies that necessarily accompany a phallocentric view of women. It has become increasingly clear that the male sex cannot be used as a basic standard to understand the female; each sex has innate characteristics of its own which must be evaluated in their own terms. Recent developments in embryology, physiology, endocrinology, and child development make a reevaluation of psychological sexual differences possible.
Freud himself was not satisfied with his formulations about the psychology of women. In his later years, he turned to the women in his audience and suggested that further clarification might have to come from them, since they themselves were the riddle. 8 Contributions from women analysts have differed widely and were often diametrically opposed. Marie Bonaparte 2 seemed eager to agree that women had no libido of their own, and referred to the female's "belated and debilitated"