1st Edition
The Anatomy of the Clitoris Reflections on the Theory of Female Sexuality
In the long and passionate debate within psychoanalysis over the theory of female sexuality, which has spanned more than a century and reached no definitive conclusion, a pattern of non-acceptance of ideas, their disappearance and then re-emergence later is a continually repeating one. The Anatomy of the Clitoris shows how this happens, using a comprehensive guide to the literature. The time is right culturally to explore this further usingclinical material as illustration. The central aim of this book is to introduce recent innovative redrawing of female anatomy appearing in the scientific literature to psychoanalysis.
Introduction
1 Womankind through history
2 The anatomy of the clitoris: a re - interpretation
3 The historical development of the psychoanalytic theory of female sexuality (1897 – 2000)
4 The anatomy of the clitoris: a psychic representation
The implications of the re – interpretation of the anatomy of the clitoris for clinical practice and psychoanalytic theory:
5 Bisexuality: the universal phenomenon
6 Motherhood: the fundamental aim
7 Femininity: the key to the box
8 Aggression: and the female form
9 Recent developments in the literature
Afterthoughts
Biography
Dr Anne Zachary is a member of the British Psychoanalytic Society and fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She has had a thriving psychoanalytic practice for nearly 30 years.
‘Anne Zachary draws on a rich mix of history, biology, psychoanalytic theory, and a wealth of clinical experience in her study of female sexuality. She questions widely held beliefs about the female body, and suggests that a re-interpretation of the form and functions of female genitalia has important implications for how we can understand women’s social and sexual identities and experiences.’-Renée Danziger, fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society
