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PENIS ENVY "DOES NOT HAVE ITS PRIMARY ROOTS IN OBJECtive anatomical realities … penis envy frequently has its origin in the dyadic relation between mother and daughter and is a symptom reflecting the child's difficulties in identifying with and achieving differentiation from a mother who is experienced as jealous, intrusive, or castrating" (Lerner, 1976, p. 275).
As early feminine development has been reexamined during the past decade (Blum, 1976); (Fliegel, 1973), the concept of penis envy has come under particular scrutiny. Some authors propose that it be viewed as a metaphor for other developmental issues. My own clinical experience contradicts this; for the very young girl, penis envy is best understood as a central and complex fantasy configuration through which the girl struggles to understand and come to terms with the fact of genital differences.
This paper presents selected material from the first year of treatment of a 4½-year-old girl to illustrate the complexities and demonstrate the vicissitudes of feminine preoedipal development, especially the oscillations between various positions before the final oedipal organization is achieved. The centrality of the girl's preoedipal attachment to her mother, the difficulty with which this is relinquished, and its contributions to the vicissitudes of feminine development are examined.