Changes

The [[feeling ]] of belonging to a [[gender]], [[masculine ]] or [[feminine]], has different [[meanings]]: first, a [[biological ]] [[meaning ]] that refers to primary and secondary [[sexual ]] characteristics; second, a sociological meaning that has to do with the [[real ]] and [[symbolic ]] roles that [[society ]] attributes to men and [[women]]; and finally, a [[psychological ]] meaning that considers the ensemble of traits belonging to either gender.

As early as 1897, in his correspondence with Wilhelm [[Fliess]], Sigmund [[Freud ]] showed interest in the masculine/feminine dichotomy from two different, complementary perspectives: that of bisexuality and that of [[psychosexual ]] [[development]]. He continued his study in "[[Three ]] Essays on the [[Theory ]] of [[Sexuality]]" (1905d), and then further refined his [[thinking ]] in an article, "Feminine Sexuality" (1931b) and in lecture 33, "[[Femininity]]," in his "New Introductory Lectures on [[Psycho]]-[[Analysis]]" (1933a [1932]).

Freud upheld the [[notion ]] of a bisexuality that involves, in every [[human ]] [[being]], a more or less [[harmonious ]] and more or less accepted [[synthesis ]] of masculine and feminine traits. In developing his hypotheses, he was unable to relinquish the [[idea ]] of biological bisexuality, even though he attributed a dominant [[role ]] to the interplay of [[oedipal ]] and [[preoedipal ]] identifications.

In Freud's view, the opposition between [[masculinity ]] and femininity is preceded by [[other ]] pairs of opposites—activeopposites—[[active]]/passive, [[phallic]]/castrated—that pave the way for it. Furthermore, in his view femininity does not appear until after the reorganization of the [[psyche ]] that occurs at [[puberty]]. This conception of masculinity and femininity comes from the fact that Freud based his theory of sexuality on the prevalence of the [[phallus ]] for both [[sexes]]. The opposition between masculinity and femininity thus tends to become blurred, since both sexes are united in the same [[repudiation ]] of a femininity that is equated with being deprived of the [[penis]]. Only masculinity is [[identifiable]]; femininity can only be [[understood ]] in [[terms ]] of the [[negative]]. Its development remains vulnerable to disturbances resulting from the after-effects of the earlier masculine period—that is, the regressions and fixations of the preoedipal [[stage]]. Freud thus envisioned the masculine/feminine dichotomy as an alternation of periods in which one or the other of the elements has the upper hand, including the [[libido]], which pursues masculine or feminine aims in sexual [[life]].

Freud himself acknowledged that he was not entirely at ease in his approach to the questions of [[feminine sexuality ]] and bisexuality. He has often been criticized in this area, notably with [[regard ]] to his equation of femininity with [[passivity]]. Currently, [[psychoanalytical ]] studies of gender [[identity ]] and early parent-[[child ]] interactions have made possible a better [[understanding ]] of the relationships between masculinity and femininity and their origins.

Masculinity and femininity are rooted in the intimacy of the earliest interactive bonds between [[parents ]] and the child. The [[processes ]] of "psychobisexualization," a term introduced by [[Christian ]] David, are established very early on, based on the child's [[instinctual ]] oppositions, which are modulated by the adaptive capacities of the [[mother ]] and [[father]]. Each parent presents to the child his or her own opposition between masculine and feminine, in a manner that differs according to the [[baby]]'s sex. This abundance of interactive [[material ]] further informs the oppositions already active within the [[infant ]] ([[presence]]/absence, active/passive, phallic/castrated, [[good]]/bad), paving the way for the masculine/feminine opposition, which only appears, as such, in the oedipal stage.

Other authors have considered the question from the more archaic perspective of [[psychic ]] envelopes, which also contain a dichotomy capable of grounding the opposition between masculine and feminine.

In any [[case]], it is the baby that solicits the parents in one [[register ]] or [[another]], and not necessarily the father in his masculine aspects or the mother in her feminine aspects. The father and the mother, through [[regressive ]] identifications, enter into [[communication ]] with the child, incorporating varying amounts of their own masculine and feminine components. The child discovers the [[difference ]] between the sexes within these interrelationships and internalizes, in variable proportions, the ensemble of both masculine and feminine components, to establish the basic framework of his or her own psychic bisexuality.

Masculinity and femininity are situated at the crossroads of, on the one hand, interactions in the here and now, and on the other, [[maternal ]] and paternal transgenerational filiations.

See also: [[Activity]]/passivity; [[Castration ]] [[complex]]; "Claims of Psycho-Analysis to [[Scientific ]] Interest"; [[Conflict]]; [[Dark continent]]; [[Female ]] sexuality; Feminine [[masochism]]; Femininity; Femininity, [[rejection ]] of; [[Feminism ]] and [[psychoanalysis]]; [[Gender identity]]; [[Homosexuality]]; "New [[Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis]]"; Penis [[envy]]; [[Perversion]]; [[Phallic stage]]; Phallic [[woman]]; [[Psychology ]] of Women, The. A [[Psychoanalytic ]] [[Interpretation]]; Real, Symbolic, and [[Imaginary ]] father; "Some [[Psychical ]] Consequences of the [[Anatomical ]] Difference between the Sexes"; [[Termination ]] of [[treatment]].[[Bibliography]]