Document Detail


Penis envy: from childhood wish to developmental metaphor.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  803143     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Two phases of penis envy are considered. The first regularly occurs early in development and is registered as a narcissistic injury which can be resolved under optimal conditions and can contribute to female psychosexual development. If, however, it is not favorably resolved or, even more significantly, if the basic character disorder is of a narcissistic type, the awareness of the genital difference becomes one of many narcissistic traumas. A later phase of penis envy usually represents a regressive effort to resolve oedipal conflicts. In the past, these two phase-oriented forms of penis envy have not been adequately distinguished. Two clinical examples are presented in which the envy of men was only part of a tendency to envy in a narcissistic character disorder. In the analysis, the interpretation of the penis envy offered a metaphor around which all of the "free-floating" envy could coalesce. The cases illustrate the necessity to consider penis envy as the manifest content of a symptom that needs analysis, rather than as "bedrock" or ultimate conflict.
Authors:
W I Grossman; W A Stewart
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Case Reports; Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association     Volume:  24     ISSN:  0003-0651     ISO Abbreviation:  J Am Psychoanal Assoc     Publication Date:  1976  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1990-10-16     Completed Date:  1990-10-16     Revised Date:  2004-11-17    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7505579     Medline TA:  J Am Psychoanal Assoc     Country:  UNITED STATES    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  193-212     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Bronx, N.Y. 10467.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Female
Freudian Theory*
Gender Identity*
Humans
Identification (Psychology)*
Jealousy*
Narcissism
Personality Development
Psychoanalytic Theory*
Psychoanalytic Therapy
Psychosexual Development*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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