Frigidity appears to be somewhat uncertainly defined. It could not be otherwise so long as the phenomenon of female orgasm is itself not clearly understood. Obviously it is important to integrate the facts of female anatomy and physiology with psychoanalytic theory if we are to further our understanding of the psychology of women. But the attempt to do this has led some writers on the subject to set up certain rigid criteria of 'normality' more concerned with a priori assumptions than with the psychology of the individual. Thus there is perhaps overemphasis

on the transfer of erotogenic zones and the importance of vaginal rather than clitoral sensation as a requirement of feminine gratification—as if there were a need to affirm the difference between the sexes. In this respect Freud was more circumspect than some of his followers. His discussions of frigidity were based more on psychological considerations than on the tenuous validity of physical manifestations.