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“What do women want?” Freud's question represented the beginning of psychoanalytic inquiry into the nature of female development. Penis envy, a “bedrock” Freudian concept, and the compromise in female psychosexual development that is its result, appeared to doom women to a state of deficiency. Although dissent flared up in the writings of analysts such as Karen Horney and Clara Thompson, Freud's views on femininity remained largely unchallenged until the 1960s. Then, under the multiple influences of the women's movement, a paradigm shift to object relational thinking in the clinical world, and the inclusion of the socio-cultural considerations in individual psychology, new ideas entered psychoanalytic theory. Feminist writers have been in the forefront of those decrying the socio-cultural bias of psychoanalytic thought.
“New feminism” has had an impact on sex research and infant observation studies. Much has been written in recent decades that revises and corrects previously accepted theory. Charlotte Krause Prozan, in this first of two volumes, presents an integration of psychoanalytic theory and feminist ideas. She sees them as “mutually enriching perspectives.” Her second volume, to be reviewed later, contains clinical applications of this integration to the practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
In Volume 1, the author gives us a comprehensive historical overview of important contributions to the development of feminist psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The book succeeds in giving a clear, well-researched understanding of the dialogue between feminism and psychoanalysis. It “looks with a critical eye at what is valuable in each, or in need of further research, debate and elimination.” Additional voices from sociology, politics, law, literature and science are added for depth of ideas.
Chapter One examines the historical roots of misogyny in culture and religion, and discusses its influence on Freud's personal psychology and evolution of his theory. The author elabor