Gender Bias in Psychoanalysis – An Alternative Thinking

Under the risk of being surpassed by newer methods or being accused of using unsubstantiated techniques, it seems urgent to rethink some psychoanalytic central concepts that have not aged well. Considering that, this paper – part of a larger theoretical investigation on psychoanalysis conception of femininity – will try to offer another perspective to explain female sexuality in its own terms. This shift is helpful not only to understand women’s sexuality, but it also opens a path to the comprehension of diverse sexualities that aren’t part of the usual standard psychoanalysis works with. So, to rethink femininity in metapsychological terms we went back to the psychoanalytical myth of origins suggested by the Hungarian psychoanalyst Sándor Ferenczi to understand if there were misconceptions – conscious or unconsciously made - that led to the narrowing in psychoanalysis ability to describe sexualities that are not heterosexual and masculine. To demonstrate that we departed from some clinical material to discuss the revealing concepts Ferenczi left us, the context in which they were developed and how they can be alternatives to some rigid phallocentric interpretations historically transmitted inside psychoanalysis. These considerations help us understand contemporary conflicts that emerge from the clash of a patriarchal society, based on consumerism and technological development that begins to face its limits. The intrapsychic and interpersonal conflicts of a given time tend to take on cultural dimensions and express them in singular ways.