sexual relationship ({{Top}}rapport sexuel){{Bottom}}[[Image:Graph.of.Sexuation.jpg|thumb|right]]==Jacques Lacan=====There is No Relation Between the Sexes===[[Lacan]] first proposes his famous [[formula]]: ''il n'y a pas de rapport sexuel'' in 1970,<ref>{{L}} ''[[Seminar XVII|Le Séminaire. Livre XVII. L'envers de la psychanalyse, 1969-70]]''. Ed. [[Jacques-Alain Miller]]. [[Paris]]: Seuil, 1991: 134</ref> and takes it up again in his [[seminar]] of 1972-3.<ref>{{S20}} p. 17</ref>
Lacan first proposes his famous This formula: il n'y is usually translated into [[English]] as "There is no such [[thing]] as a pas de rapport sexuel in 1970 (see [[sexual]] [[relationship]]", which is misleading since [[Lacan 1969-70: 134), and takes it up again in his seminar of 1972-3 (S20, 17). ]] is certainly not denying that [[people]] have sex!
The formula might be better rendered "There is no relation between the [[sexes]]", thus emphasizing that it is not primarily the [[act]] of '''sexual intercourse''' that [[Lacan]] is referring to but the question of the relation between the [[sexual difference|masculine sexual position]] and the [[sexual difference|feminine sexual position]].
===Sexual Difference===
The formula thus condenses a [[number]] of points in [[Lacan]]'s approach to the question of [[sexual difference]]:
This formula is usually translated into English as '====Other of Langage====1. There is no such thing as a sexual relationship'direct, which is misleading since Lacan is certainly not denying that people have sex! The formula might be better rendered 'There is no unmediated relation between the sexes'[[sexual difference|male]] and [[sexual difference|female sexual position]], thus emphasising that it is not primarily because the act [[Other]] of sexual intercourse that Lacan is referring to but the question of the relation [[language]] stands between the masculine sexual position and the feminine sexual position[[them]] as a [[third]] party.<ref>{{S20}} p. 64</ref>
The formula thus condenses a number of points in Lacan<blockquote>"Between [[male]] and [[female]] [[human]] beings there is no such thing as an instinctive relationship's approach to because all [[sexuality]] is marked by the question of SEXUAL DIFFERENCE:signifier."<ref>{{L}} (l975b) "[[Conférence à Genève sur le symptôme]]." ''Les Block-[[Notes]] de la [[psychanalyse]]''. Brussels.</ref></blockquote>
1One consequence of this is that it is not possible to define [[perversion]] by reference to a supposedly [[nature|natural form]] of the [[sexual relationship]] (as [[Freud]] did).
There [[Heterosexuality]] is no direct, unmediated relation between the male and female sexual position, because the Other of language stands between them as a third party (S20, 64)thus not [[natural]] but [[normative]]. <ref>{{Ec}} p. 223</ref>
'Between ====Asymmetry====2. There is no reciprocity or symmetry between the [[sexual difference|male ]] and [[sexual difference|female human beings sexual positions]] because the [[symbolic order]] is fundamentally asymmetrical; there is no such thing as an instinctive relationship' because all sexuality corresponding [[signifier]] which could [[signify]] [[Woman]] in the same way that the [[sexual difference|male]] [[sex]] is marked by the signifier (Lacan, l975b)[[symbolize]]d.
One consequence of this There is that it is not possible to define perversion by reference to a supposedly natural form of only one [[signifier]], the [[phallus]], which governs the relations between the sexual relationship (as Freud did)[[sex]]es.<ref>{{E}} p. 289</ref>
Heterosexuality There is thus not natural but normative (Ec, 223)no [[symbol]] for a symmetrical [[sexual relationship]]: "the sexual relationship cannot be written."<ref>{{S20}} p. 35</ref>
====Love====
3. Relations between men and [[women]] can never be [[harmonious]]; "The most naked [[rivalry]] between men and women is eternal."<ref>{{S2}} p. 263</ref>
[[Love]] is no more than an [[illusion]] designed to make up for the [[absence]] of harmonious relations between the [[sex]]es (whether presented in [[mythical]] [[terms]], as in [[Plato]]'s [[Symposium]], or in [[psychoanalytic]] terms, as in [[Balint]]'s [[concept]] of [[love|genital love]]).
2====Drives====4. The [[drive|sexual drives]] are directed not towards a "[[whole]] person" but towards [[part-object]]s.
There is therefore no reciprocity or symmetry such thing as a [[sexual relationship]] between two [[subject]]s, only between the male and female positions because the a [[Symbolicsubject]] order is fundamentally asymmetrical; there is no corresponding signifier which could signify and a ([[Womanpartial]] in the same way that the male sex is symbolised) object.
There is only one signifierFor the man, the [[Phallusobjet (petit) a|object a]]occupies the [[place]] of the [[missing]] partner, which governs produces the [[matheme]] of [[fantasy]] (SOa); in other [[words]], the relations between [[Woman]] does not [[exist]] for the sexes (Eman as a [[real]] [[subject]], but only as a [[fantasy]] [[object]], 289)the [[cause]] of his [[desire]].<ref>{{S20}} p. 58</ref>
There is thus no symbol for a symmetrical sexual relationship: '====Woman and Mother====5. [[Woman]] cannot function sexually qua [[Woman]] but only qua [[mother]]; "[[Woman]] begins to function in the sexual relationship cannot be written' (only as mother."<ref>{{S20, 35)}} p.36</ref>
====Sex and Meaning====
6. As something rooted in the [[real]], [[sex]] is opposed to [[meaning]]; and "sex, in opposing itself to [[sense]], is also, by definition, opposed to relation, to [[communication]]."<ref>Copjec, Joan. 1994: 21</ref>
==See Also==
{{See}}
* [[Desire]]
* [[Drive]]
* [[Existence]]
||
* [[Fantasy]]
* [[Language]]
* [[Love]]
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* [[Mother]]
* [[Part Object]]
* [[Perversion]]
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* [[Phallus]]
* [[Sexual difference]]
* [[Signifier]]
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* [[Symbol]]
* [[Symbolic]]
* [[Woman]]
{{Also}}
3. Relations between men and women can never be harmonious; 'The most naked rivalry between men and women is eternal' (S2, 263). Love is no more than an illusion designed to make up for the absence of harmonious relations between the sexes (whether presented in mythical terms, as in Plato's Symposium, or in psychoanalytic terms, as in Balint's concept of GENITAL œOVC). 4. The sexual drives are directed not towards a 'whole person' but towards PART-OBJECTS. There is therefore no such thing as a sexual relationship between two subjects, only between a subject and a (partial) object. For the man, the object a occupies the place of the missing partner, which produces the matheme of fantasy (SOa); in other words, the [[Woman]] does not exist for the man as a [[Real]] subject, but only as a fantasy object, the cause of his desire (S20, 58). 5. [[Woman]] cannot function sexually qua [[Woman]] but only qua mother; '[[Woman]] begins to function in the sexual relationship only as mother' (S20, 36). 6. As something rooted in the [[Real]], sex is opposed to meaning; and 'sex, in opposing itself to sense, is also, by definition, opposed to relation, to communication' (Copjec, 1994: 21). == References ==<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small">
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[[Category:Sexuality]]
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