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Castration is a contested concept in psychoanalysis. In this article, Gherovici discusses several clinical examples in order to track the function of castration and its relation to anxiety in the unfolding of a psychoanalytic treatment. Contesting current assumptions that castration is a hindrance, the author suggests that castration functions as a welcome separation imposed by the Oedipal law that helps negotiate sexual difference, advances the embodiment of sexuality, which ultimately allows subjectivity and desire to emerge.