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11 - Gender and contrasexuality

Jung's contribution and beyond

from Part 3 - Analytical psychology in society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2006

By
Polly Young-Eisendrath
Edited by
Polly Young-Eisendrath  and
Terence Dawson
Polly Young-Eisendrath
Affiliation:
University of Vermont
Terence Dawson
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
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Summary

Sexuality belongs in this area of instability played out in the register of demand and desire, each sex coming to stand, mythically and exclusively, for that which could satisfy and complete the other. It is when the categories “male” and “female” are seen to represent an absolute and complementary division that they fall prey to a mystification in which the difficulty of sexuality instantly disappears.

(Jacqueline Rose, Introduction to J. Lacan, Feminine Sexuality, 1982, p. 33)

Gender and difference

The universal division of the human community into two sexes, marked by signs and symbols of gender, has enduring and powerful effects on our psychological functioning as individuals, couples, and groups. Not only are we born into on-going stories about our own and the opposite sex, stories that constrain and engender possibilities for action and identity, but also we form strong internal images of femininity and masculinity. While we identify with one, we develop an unconscious complex around the Other (I capitalize the subjective Other to distinguish it from the interpersonal other).

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Jung , pp. 223 - 239
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1997

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References

Gordon, R. (1993). Bridges: Metaphor for Psychic Processes. London: Karnac Books.Google Scholar
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Edinger, E. (1973). Ego and Archetype. Baltimore, Md.: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Jung, C. G. (1960a). “The Transcendent Function.” CW 8, pp. –91.Google Scholar
Jung, C. G.(1960b). “Psychological Factors Determining Human Behavior.” CW 8, pp. –128.Google Scholar
Jung, C. G.(1966a). “Principles of Practical Psychotherapy.” CW 16, pp. –20.Google Scholar
Jung, C. G.(1966b). “Problems of Modern Psychotherapy.” CW 16, pp. –75.Google Scholar
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Jung, C. G. (1967). Alchemical Studies. CW 13.

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