(1996). Gender and Psychoanalysis, 1:27-43 In Defense of Gender Ambiguity This essay sums up recent psychoanalytic theorizing about gender from a feminist perspective. It contends that a broader view of gender identifications is necessary, one which transcends the simple, oedipal logic of opposites and recognizes the multiplicity of sexual life. At the same time, a deeper, critical understanding of the developmental role played by the oedipal structure allows us to understand why gender assumes a polarized form in our thinking, even though ambiguity is everywhere present in concrete life. Once assumptions about the ultimate necessity of gender polarity and heterosexuality are questioned, we can formulate a postoedipal position that integrates preoedipal, overinclusive identifications and transcends concrete complementarity. From this position, respect for difference and symbolic play with gender emerge through a modification of the tendency to gender dimorphism by that of polymorphism. [This is a summary or excerpt from the full text of the book or article. The full text of the document is available to subscribers.] |
