The psychoanalytic theory of female homosexuality occupies an unusual position in modern psychoanalytic thought because it continues to be influenced by models of the mind that have largely been discarded in other areas of psychoanalytic psychology. Psychoanalytic ideas regarding female homosexuality are considered here from an historical perspective. It is suggested that modern psychoanalytic theory about sexual orientation in women must include recent contributions on the psychological development of women, the psychoanalytic psychology of male homosexuality, and relevant extraanalytic observations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allport, G.W. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.
2.
Bacon, C.L. (1956). A developmental theory of female homosexuality . In Perversions: Psychodynamics and Therapy, ed. S. Lorand & M. Balint.New York: Random House, pp. 131-160.
3.
Bailey, J.M., & Benishay, D. (1993). Familial aggregations of female sexual orientation . American Journal of Psychiatry150:272-277.
4.
--- Pillard, R.C., Neale, M.C., & Argei, Y. (1993). Heritable factors influence sexual orientation in women. Archives of General Psychiatry50:217-223.
5.
Bardwick, J.M. (1971). Psychology of Women. New York : Harper & Row.
6.
Benjamin, J. (1988). The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and the Problem of Domination. New York: Pantheon.
7.
Bergler, E. (1958). Counterfeitsex: Impotence, Homosexuality, Frigidity . New York: Grune & Stratton .
8.
Bonaparte, M. (1953). Female Sexuality. New York : International Universities Press.
9.
Boston Lesbian Psychologies Collective, EDS. ( 1987). Lesbian Psychologies. Urbana : University of Illinois Press.
10.
Brody, M.W. (1943). Analysis of the psychosexual development of a female with special reference to homosexuality. Psychoanalytic Review30:47-58.
11.
Cabaj, R., & Stein, T., EDS. (1996). Homosexuality and Mental Health: A Comprehensive Textbook. Washington: American Psychiatric Press.
12.
Chodorow, N. (1989). Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory. New Haven: Yale University Press.
13.
Defries, Z. (1979). A comparison of political and apolitical lesbians . Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis7:57-66.
14.
Deutsch, H. (1932). On female homosexuality. Psychoanalytic Quarterly1:484-510.
15.
Domenici, T., & Lesser, R.C. (1995). Disorienting Sexuality: Psychoanalytic Reappraisals of Sexual Identities. New York: Routledge.
16.
Downey, J., & Friedman, R.C. (1995). Internalized homophobia in lesbian relationships. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis23:435-447.
17.
--- --- (1996). The negative therapeutic reaction and self-hatred in gay and lesbian patients. In Homosexuality and Mental Health: A Comprehensive Textbook, ed. R. Cabaj & T. Stein.Washington: American Psychiatric Press, pp. 471-484.
18.
Ehrhardt, A.A., Meyer-Bahlburg, H.F.L., Rosen, L.R., ET AL. (1985). Sexual orientation after prenatal exposure to exogenous estrogen. Archives of Sexual Behavior14:57-77.
19.
Elbert, P., Pantez, C., Wienbruch, C., ET AL. (1995). Increased cortical representation of the fingers of the left hand in string players. Science270:305-307.
20.
Fairbairn, W.R.D. (1952). Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality. London: Tavistock.
21.
Ferenczi, S. (1926). Further Contributions to the Theory and Technique of Psychoanalysis. London: Hogarth Press, 1950.
22.
Fisher, S. (1973). The Female Orgasm. New York : Basic Books.
23.
Flügel, J.C. (1925). A note on the phallic significance of the tongue . International Journal of Psycho-Analysis6:209-213.
24.
Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Standard Edition7:130-243.
25.
--- ( 1911). Psycho-analytic notes upon an autobiographical account of a case of paranoia (dementia paranoides). Standard Edition12:9-79.
26.
--- ( 1918). From the history of an infantile neurosis. Standard Edition17:7-122.
27.
--- ( 1920). The psychogenesis of a case of homosexuality in a woman . Standard Edition18:147-172.
28.
Friedman, R.C. (1986). Panel report: Toward a further understanding of homosexual men. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association . 34:193-206.
29.
--- ( 1988) Male Homosexuality: A Contemporary Psychoanalytic Perspective . New Haven: Yale University Press .
30.
--- & Downey, J. (1993a). Neurobiology and sexual orientation: Current relationships. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences5:131-153.
31.
--- --- (1993b). Psychoanalysis, psychobiology, and homosexuality . Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association41:1159-1198.
32.
--- --- (1994). Special article: Homosexuality. New England Journal of Medicine331:923-930.
33.
--- --- (1995a). Biology and the oedipus complex. Psychoanalytic Quarterly64:234-264.
34.
--- --- (1995b).Internalized homophobia and the negative therapeutic reaction in homosexual men. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis23:99-113.
35.
--- & Lilling, A.A. (1996). An empirical study of the beliefs of psychoanalysts about scientific and clinical dimensions of homosexuality. Journal of Homosexuality32:79-89.
36.
Gay, P. ( 1988). Freud: A Life for Our Time. New York : Norton.
37.
Gilligan, C. (1982).In a Different Voice. Cambridge : Harvard University Press.
38.
Golden, C. (1987). Diversity and variability in women's sexual identities . In Lesbian Psychologies: Aspirations and Challenges, ed. Boston Lesbian Psychologies Collective.Urbana: University of Illinois Press, pp. 19-34.
39.
Gonsiorek, J.C., & Weinrich, J.D. (1991). Homosexuality: Research Implications for Public Policy. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
40.
Green, R. (1987). The "Sissy Boy Syndrome" and the Development of Homosexuality. New Haven: Yale University Press.
41.
Greenson, R.R. (1968). Disidentifying from mother. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis49:370-374.
42.
Group For The Advancement Of Psychiatry (IN PRESS). Antihomosexual Bias in Psychiatry. Washington: American Psychiatric Press.
43.
Hartmann, H. (1950). Comments on the psychoanalytic theory of the ego . Psychoanalytic Study of the Child5:74-96.
44.
--- ( 1964). Essays on Ego Psychology. New York : International Universities Press.
45.
Herek, G.M. (1991). Stigma, prejudice, and violence against lesbians and gay men. In Homosexuality: Research Implications for Public Policy, ed. J.C. Gonsiorek & J.D. Weinrich.Newbury, Park, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 60-80.
46.
--- ( 1995). Psychological heterosexism in the United States. In Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Identities over the Lifespan, ed. A.R. D'Augelli & C.J. Patterson.Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 321-347.
47.
--- & Berrill, K., EDS. (1992). Hate Crimes. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications .
48.
Horney, K. (1924). On the genesis of the castration complex in women . International Journal of Psycho-Analysis5:50-65.
49.
--- ( 1926). The flight from womanhood. International Journal of PsychoAnalysis7:324-339
50.
Isay, R. (1989). Being Homosexual. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
51.
Jacobson, E. (1964). The Self and the Object World. New York: International Universities Press.
52.
Jones, E. (1927). The early development of female sexuality. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis8:459-472.
53.
Kernberg, O. (1995). Love Relationships: Normality and Pathology. New Haven: Yale University Press.
54.
Khan, M. (1962). The role of infantile sexuality in early object relations in female homosexuality. In The Pathology and Treatment of Sexual Perversions, ed. I. Rosen.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.
55.
Kiersky, S. (1996). Exiled desire: The problem of reality in psychoanalysis and lesbian experience. Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy13:130-141.
56.
Kirkpatrick, M. (1984). Female homosexuality. Panel presentation, American Psychoanalytic Association, San Diego, May 4.
57.
--- ( 1987). Clinical implications of lesbian mother studies. Journal of Homosexuality13:201-211.
58.
---( 1989). Womeninloveinthe 1980s. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis17:535-542.
59.
Klaf, F.S. (1961) .Female homosexuality and paranoid schizophrenia: A survey of 75 cases and controls. Archives of General Psychiatry1:84-86.
60.
--- & Davis, C.A. (1960). Homosexuality and paranoid schizophrenia: A survey of 150 cases and controls. American Journal of Psychiatry116:1070-1075.
61.
Klein, H., & Horowitz, W.A. (1949). Psychosexual factors in the paranoid phenomena. American Journal of Psychiatry105:697-701.
62.
Kohut, H. (1971). The Analysis of the Self. New York: International Universities Press.
63.
--- ( 1977). The Restoration of the Self. New York : International Universities Press.
64.
Lewes, K. (1988). The Psychoanalytic Theory of Male Homosexuality . New York: Simon & Schuster .
65.
Lichtenstein, H. (1961). Identity and sexuality: A study of their interrelationship in man. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association9:157-268.
66.
Lilling, A., & Friedman, R.C. (1995). Bias towards gay patients by psychoanalytic clinicians: An empirical investigation. Archives of Sexual Behavior24:563-570.
67.
Malyon, A.K. (1982). Psychotherapeutic implications of internalized homophobia in gay men. Journal of Homosexuality7:59-69.
68.
Masson, J.M. (1985). The Complete Letters of Sigmund Freud to Wilhelm Fliess, 1887-1904. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
69.
Mcdougall, J. (1980). Plea for a Measure of Abnormality. New York: International Universities Press.
70.
--- ( 1989). The dead father: On early psychic trauma and its relation to disturbance in sexual identity and creative activity. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis70:205-219.
Moore, B.E., & FineB.D. (1990). Psychoanalytic Terms and Concepts. New Haven: Yale University Press.
73.
O'Connor, N., & Ryan, J. (1993). Wild Desires and Mistaken Identities: Lesbianism and Psychoanalysis. New York: Columbia University Press.
74.
Patterson, C.J. (1995). Lesbian mothers, gay fathers and their children . In Lesbian , Gay and Bisexual Identities over the Lifespan , ed. A.R. D'Augelli & C.J. Patterson.Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 262-293.
75.
Planansky, K., & Johnston, R. (1962). The incidence and relationship of homosexual and paranoid features in schizophrenia. Journal of Mental Science / British Journal of Psychiatry108/456: 604-615.
76.
Ponse, B. (1978). Identities in the Lesbian World. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
77.
Quinodoz, J.-M. (1989). Female homosexual patients in psychoanalysis. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis70:55-63.
78.
Saghir, M.T., & Robins, E. (1973). Male and Female Homosexuality: A Comprehensive Investigation. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
79.
Saussure, R. De (1929). Appendix: Homosexual fixations in neurotic women . In C. Socarides, Homosexuality . New York: Aronson, 1978, pp. 547-595.
80.
Schafer, R. (1995). The evolution of my views on non-normative sexual practices. In Disorienting Sexuality: Psychoanalytic Reappraisal of Sexual Identities, ed. T. Domenici & R.C. Lesser.New York : Routledge, pp. 187-203.
81.
Schuker, E. (1996). Toward further analytic understanding of lesbian patients. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association44 (suppl.):485-508.
Segal, H. (1964). Introduction to the Work of Melanie Klein. New York: Basic Books.
84.
Siegel, E. (1988). Female Homosexuality: Choice without Volition . Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press .
85.
Socarides, C. (1963). The historical development of theoretical and clinical concepts of overt female homosexuality. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association11:386-414.
86.
--- ( 1978). Homosexuality. New York: Aronson.
87.
Stein, T.S., & Cohen, C.J.( 1986) .Contemporary Perspectives on Psychotherapy with Lesbians and Gay Men. New York: Plenum.
88.
Stoller, R.J. (1968). Sex and Gender. New York: Aronson.
89.
--- ( 1985). One homosexual woman. In Observing the Erotic Imagination. New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 184-200.
90.
Stone, M. (1986). Essential Papers on Borderline Disorders: One Hundred Years at the Border. New York: New York University Press.
91.
Thompson, C. (1947). Changing concepts of homosexuality in psychoanalysis . Psychiatry10:183-189.
92.
Tyson, P. (1982). A developmental line of gender identity, gender role and choice of love object. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association30:61-86.
93.
Walsh, M.R., ED. (1987). The Psychology of Women: Ongoing Debates. New Haven: Yale University Press.
94.
Weinberg, G.H. (1972). Society and the Healthy Homosexual. New York: St. Martin's Press.
95.
Whitam, F.L., & Mathy, R.M. (1991). Childhood cross-gender behavior of homosexual females in Brazil, Peru, the Philippines, and the United States. Archives of Sexual Behavior20:151-170.
96.
--- & Zent, M. (1984). A cross-cultural assessment of early cross-gender behavior and familial factors in male homosexuality. Archives of Sexual Behavior13:427-439.
97.
--- Diamond, M., & Martin, J. (1993). Homosexual orientation in twins: A report on 61 pairs and three triplet sets. Archives of Sexual Behavior22:187-206.
98.
Wolfson, A. (1984). Panel report: Toward the further understanding of homosexual women. American Psychoanalytic Association , San Diego, May 4.
99.
Zucker, K.J., & Bradley, S.J. (1995). Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents. New York: Guilford Press.
