In the male, the oedipal period contains the dominant threat to body image and psychosexual identity. In the female, however, it is puberty, with its massive physiological changes and its requirement that the girl both identify with and separate herself from her mother, that contains the comparable threat. Because the impact of penis envy in the girl is not analogous to the impact of castration anxiety in the boy, the bisexuality of latency is stronger in the girl and the impact of puberty therefore greater. Similarly, separation-individuation tasks are more of a puberty issue for the girl and puberty plays a greater role in her superego formation. Anorexia nervosa is a symptom complex that represents a regressive response to the stresses of puberty in the female. Its unique sex and age distribution reflects the vulnerability to regression of the pubescent girl.