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Irène Matthis's book is a treat to read. She has a remarkable ability to formulate clearly what she wants to say without over-simplification. The book is a collection of essays on some central themes in psycho-analysis: the womanly, the motherly and the unconscious. The three main chapters in the book are named accordingly: I. Det kvinnliga (The Womanly), II. Det moderliga (The motherly), III. Det omedvetna (The Unconscious). The essays can be read separately. This is recommended to those readers who, like me, enjoy reading shorter entities. Simultaneously, the different parts are intermingled with each other. They are like parts of the writer's continuous, dynamic thought process. The reader is invited to join this creative process. The book is rich in content and could be reviewed from different angles. I have chosen to review those aspects that I found most fascinating and intriguing.
In the first chapter, Irène Matthies gives new meaningfulness to the concept of penis envy. What gave me most new ideas in this chapter was the bringing together of different viewpoints.
Both boys and girls think that everyone else is like they are. It is society's patriarchal convention that states that to be without a penis is something the woman should be ashamed of. The girl does not actually think that she lacks anything. That is why she cannot feel envy. Instead she feels that she is a person who, for some unknown reason, cannot be loved and the shame paralyzes her. Because of that, interpretations of penis envy can only awaken shame in the little girl and in the adult woman.
Society's convention based on the statement by men that man is complete and perfect whereas women are incomplete and imperfect, bereaves