The general split in the sexual object choice in men, and their difficulty in fusing sensual and tender feelings, are discussed in relation to the man's dependence on his mother and his need to find an outlet for his hostility. These two factors are often

interconnected, since dependence provokes hostility as a result of the frustrations and narcissistic injuries involved. The sexual interest in depreciated women provides an outlet not only for active, sexual wishes that are incompatible with passive, dependent longings, but also for hostility which cannot be directed towards the idealized mother or mother-substitute. The depreciated woman is identified with neither the mother nor the patient himself, who therefore feels free to attack her. Since hostility is probably a biological element in sexuality, some guilt, conscious or unconscious, is probably unavoidable.