This paper suggests revisions in our understanding of feminine identity formation, the girl's negative oedipus complex, and masculine identifications in girls. Analytic material from the cases of three girls is used to explore the various origins and intrapsychic functions of masculine identifications at each phase of the girl's development. Accounts of feminine development based on such concepts as castration shock, primary femininity, primary identification with mother, or core gender identity are seen as oversimplified. Feminine and masculine identifications are neither primary nor secondary, but the product of a long line of development, of ongoing conflict resolution, and of defensive transformations.