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This paper is part of the author's book, Jung and the Post-Jungians (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul), and examines the relationship between gender and psyche from a variety of angles. Samuels makes the important point, central to his paper, ‘that Jung's formulations of Logos and Eros and animus and anima can be stripped of their connections, not only to sex, but also to gender. That done, we are left with superb tools for an approach to psyche.’ It is the attachment of gender to these concepts, Samuels argues, that creates confusion.
What is at issue for analysts in the debate about sex and gender is the question of ‘identity and internal balance’. While Samuels concedes that there are actual differences between men and women which affect each experientially, he nevertheless points out that ‘it is a huge step from that to a claim that they actually function quite differently psychologically’. Samuels asks instead how men and women relate to the difference between them and concludes that ‘both sexes approach the difference between the sexes in a similar way’ (i.e., symbolically).
Following from this, Samuels stresses a gender-free notion of animus/anima, which he describes as the capacity to imagine ‘something other, strange, perhaps mysterious, but certainly full of possibilities and potentials’—‘a projection of unconscious potential: “soul-image”.’ Although this capacity is one and the same within men and women it is manifest in contrasexual form because it embodies that which is different and ‘other’. Samuels cites two clinical examples that illustrate clearly the role of animus/anima as guide or psychopomp, indicating a potential shift in balance between Logos and Eros within the individual.