In the patriarchic society of Western culture the concept of 'masculinity' rests on ideals of self-assertion, discipline, courage and competitive aggression. In classical freudian terminology, the woman's deficiency in self-respect has been labeled 'penis-envy'. This implies the tendency to consider feminine insecurity as fundamentally irreparable. By three case histories, it is shown that such 'phallocentric' prejudice does not sufficiently explain the tendency toward self-defeat in neurotic women. Preoccupied with socially determined fears of defeat, neurotic women may become extremely aggressive or may repress their spontaneous emotions and withdraw into infantile fantasies. These pessimistic restrictions of vital impulses arrest the maturing process and cripple the self-respect. Restricted in their capacity to love, these women desperately need to be loved. Wartime morale, however, matures women.