Meetings of the New York Psychoanalytic Society

April 11, 1961. SEXUAL RESPONSE IN WOMEN: A CORRELATION OF PHYSIOLOGIC FINDINGS WITH PSYCHOANALYTIC CONCEPTS. Marcel Heiman, M.D.

Dr. Heiman correlates some of the newer findings of anatomic and physiologic research with psychoanalytic theory. Citing Masters' observations of the female sexual response during coitus, he arrives at the conclusion that 'coitus is the first stage in the process of reproduction and that to divide coitus into reproductive and pleasurable aspects must be artificial from the biological point of view. Woman's sexual pleasure in coitus is based on physiological processes serving reproduction.' He also notes the functions of the neurohormone oxytocin during coitus, parturition, and nursing which give it a 'central position in the reproductive process'. Thus he arrives at a psychoanalytic concept that links coitus 'genetically to the sucking experience of the woman as an infant; and "progressively" to pregnancy, to the birth of the baby to be conceived, and to the suckling of that baby. Through identification with her own mother and her child, three generations are united; the center of this unification is represented by the sucking-suckling-sucking experience.'

That coitus is one phase of the reproductive process is a view that has been expressed by other authors (Abraham, Horney, Mead, Bonaparte, Fliess). Dr. Heiman pointed out that severe frigidity may make the performance of intercourse impossible and postulates that partial or complete frigidity may represent impairment of the woman's reproductive function to some degree. Gynecological observations by Masters revealed that within seconds after the onset of any effective form of sexual stimulation the vagina begins its process of lubrication, which is not only important for sexual intercourse but for the process of reproduction. There are also cervical secretions and these are commonly spoken of as being friendly or hostile to the man's sperm. Masters divides the vagina physiologi