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).

Mirror Mirror on the Wall...



Rouge Test at 17.5 months 

An early test of self-recognition and awareness of oneself is the rouge test. Performed in front of a mirror, a child would have a spot of rouge make-up surreptitiously  placed on their forehead and the reactions based on the child's response to the mirror image would be assessed. It is successfully accomplished by most children by the age of 18 months.  And by god, once we did spot who was in the mirror looking out at us - we couldn't get enough it seems.

 

From clothes shops, shoe shops, sunglasses shops, and a bookies amongst others, some recent places that I have come into contact with this obvious necessity of a fixture include;

 

Starbucks! I'm looking at myself as I ordered a Starbucks the other day. Scruffy, half asleep and surrounded by coffee slurping smugatude...no escape!

 

In a TV store. I catch a glimpse of myself while I ponder which big electric b**tard to buy. While beside me kids jump about in front of an EIGHT FOOT MIRROR sporting 3D glasses, screaming at their parents who look at one other with an undertone of hatred in their eyes, ''Why God, Why us?''

 



@DoucheBag said,
''Ride-by Selfie...lol''

A bank! I mean what the fook? Yes, this is what it looks like to be broke. Haha, no they don't take bank bags full of buttons! ''Hey, I'm financially set for life as long as I die next Tuesday, you reflective son of a ...!''

 

I mean mirrors in phone shops? ''Yes, I think that this phone adequately portrays me as a bell-end, I'll take it''...just before you take a quick selfie and post it on Twitter along with some hoot of a line...Oh the hilarity.

 

In a deli shop! Right beside where you can heat up those heart-attack inducing lumps of dirt, while viewing the look of shame on your face as the microwave pings...and proceeding with a rubberneckers view of your own probable ''Oohh-face'' as scalding hot slop rolls from your chin.  

 

Discount Tuesdays: for those with room temperature I.Q's

What next, fruit and veg shops...''What would I look like eating this banana?'' Newsflash s***head, nobody knows where to look when you're eating a banana, so get over it.
 

Or petrol stations? Just in case you inadvertently go up in a ball of flames, well then at least you can have a front row view to your own smouldering crispy finale. ''20 on number 7 and some after-sun please''.

 

Years ago my grandmother used to come in from a night out and the first thing she would do is check how she looked in the mirror. Or I guess how she looked all those previous hours. I mean she was a great woman and everything, but sure by that stage there was no real point on fixing a stray hair. But nonetheless she did it and surprisingly not once was she presented with a 'There's Something about Mary' scenario.  





'Please leave the hotel room as you would like to find it'
Merle began first on tackling that unnecessary partition wall



Obviously we have the other side of the coin as with everything. Mirrors make a room feel more spacious...and all that Feng shui nonsense. Places such as barbers, fair enough, you're gonna have to wear this 10 euro haircut for the next few weeks...best to have a look at the butchery as it unfolds. Mirror shops, I suppose. Gyms, to inflate ego's or deflate self esteem, either-or.  



Maybe some people just got one too many ''Kick Me's'' posted on their back and you know, they have to check themselves every so often.

Le Moi. Now available in 42"

And then there's the addition of the 'Black mirrors'. Those omnipresent gadgets that allow you to view yourself on a continual basis; the screens of gadgets, TVs, mobile phones, computers through which we interact with the world. But that's for another days ramblings.

Jacques Lacan's Mirror Stage (1936) was described as a founding act that lead to the formation of the ego and the perception of the Subject. The baby's discovery of self is an intellectual act that involves the translation of an image into an idea - the idea of 'Me' or 'Self', or is it 'Selfie'?

Either way, it seems that in present times the "méconnaissance'' of the subject is truly no longer a concern.

__________________________________________________________________________

''Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only''
                                                                                                ~ Samuel Butler

Personality?

You don't really have one!

Personality, like ego, is a concept invented by your mind. It doesn't exist in the real world. Personality is a word for the general impression that you give through your words and actions. If your personality isn't likeable today, don't worry, you can always change it...

So long as you allow yourself to do so.