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It is of the greatest value that an undertaking like the subjection of the whole range of female sexual functioning to psycho-analytic consideration should be attempted at all. We approach this work with double interest: first, because here again part of the domain of normal psychology is opened up to psycho-analytic investigation, and that not only some one aspect of it, but nothing less than the whole sexual life of woman; secondly, because here the widely scattered items of knowledge on the subject are gathered together and a whole is made of them, based on the newest theoretical insight; and further this is enriched by new aspects and findings gleaned from the clinical experiences of the writer.
I shall limit myself in the following review to a short mention of already known material, with a full account of the new matter.
The peculiarities of the development of female infantile sexuality begin in the 'phallic stage', described by Freud; the writer sees two essential factors in this phase:
1The clitoris is looked upon by the little girl as 'an absolutely complete (absolut vollwertiges) organ', and she has the same anxieties about it as the boy has about the penis.
2The tendencies of this stage are entirely masculine, and are rooted in an identification with the father.
It is the discovery of her lack of a penis which first leads to a mother-identification, and that too of a regressive and anal nature. The wish for an 'anal child', as a substitute and compensation for the penis, is reanimated; and as a result, the guilt and anxiety feelings that belong to the genitalia become attached to this wish. With her discovery of her organic deficiency, clitoral sexuality, and with it the identification with the father, is given up.
The father-identification moves a step higher, partly by a desexualization of it and by its being set up in the super-ego, and partly by a passing over to object-libido in relation to the father. After this 'move towards passivity' the little gi