The Psychogenesis of a Case of Homosexuality in a Woman

Freud’s (1920) case, the psychogenesis of a case of homosexuality in a woman, with reference to other relevant texts.

Freud’s 1920 case presents an examination of the psychogenesis of homosexuality in an 18 year old girl who pursued the adoration of a lady ten years her senior (p. 147). Early on, the young girl’s father meets the two of them together and casts an angry glance (p. 147). This instigated a suicide attempt by the young girl which had the secondary gain of making the parents ‘back off’, with the addition of an increased respect from the society lady (p. 147). In Freud’s case of hysteria (1905), Dora’s parents discover her suicide note but question her intent. Similarly, a secondary gain for Dora was not only making her father concerned and thus allowing her to grow closer to him, but it also may have been an attempt to keep her father away from Frau K. Both cases have the undertones of a suicide attempt being used to make the parents first take note of their daughter’s pain.

The girl’s libido, or manifestation of her ‘sexual instinct’ (Freud, 1916-1917, p. 313) was never directed towards young men (Freud, 1920, p. 147). Her father was outraged when he discovered her homosexual tendencies and if psychoanalysis failed, a speedy marriage would ensue (Freud, 1920, p. 148). Little Hans (Freud, 1909) was given threats of castration from his mother due to his fascination with his ‘widdler’. Not too dissimilar, the father of the young girl (1920) was threatening a castration between his daughter and the society-lady if her fascination did not cease. Freud remarks that during analysis the young girl didn’t hold back on what she said about the father (1920, p. 148). However, at this stage of development the father is only viewed as nothing more than a ‘troublesome rival’ (Freud, 1931, p. 2).

Freud (1920) adds that during her childhood the girl passed through the normal attitude of the feminine Oedipus complex (p. 150). The later comparison of her brother’s genitals did leave a strong impression on her (p. 150), in that she felt inferior or that she had ‘come off badly’ (Freud, 1924). The girl showed signs of a maternal instinct to a small boy when she was 13 years old (1920, p. 151). Later, during a revival of her infantile Oedipus complex, the girl began to desire an unconscious wish for a child with the father (p. 152). ‘Normal’ women and homosexuals may desire the phallus and rebel against the frustration of castration (Riviere, 1929, p. 310), thus the earlier genital comparisons with her brother had led her to want a child as a substitute for her inferior organ. Here Freud is making a reference to 'penis-envy' (1925). This ‘penis-child’ equation (1925) was denied when it was the mother, her unconscious rival, who bore the child – her third brother (Freud, 1920, p. 152).

Owing to this disappointment, the girl gave up her wish and discarded the father as love-object (p. 152). Instead, the mother became the love-object and Freud’s analysis of the girls dreams revealed the society lady to be a substitute (1920, p. 151). The recognition of the anatomical difference between the sexes can force girls away from masculinity to adopt the development of femininity (Freud, 1925). In contrast, this incident led the girl to become a homosexual ‘out of defiance against her father’ (Freud, 1920, p. 152), and to repudiate the feminine role in general (p. 152), in favour of what Freud later discussed as a ‘masculinity complex’ (1925).

Freud (1920) broke off the treatment with the girl when he recognized the transference of the girl’s hatred towards her father and men (p. 154). In a similar fashion, Freud’s treatment of Dora (1905) was cut short when she ended analysis abruptly, which Freud felt to be an act of betrayal or vengeance on Dora’s part (1905, p. 157). Advising for the treatment to be continued by a woman doctor, Freud adds, that the girl promised her father to give up seeing the society lady (1920, p. 154).