The body in adolescent diaries. The case of Karen Horney

The role of the body and its functions in the psychic life of the individual has occupied a central place in psychoanalytic thinking and writing. Developmentally, the body and the ego as a psychic organization have an integral, mutual relationship which becomes particularly important during adolescence, when the body matures physically while at the same time cognition, self-reflection, and social relations develop. This contribution presents results of the content analyses, focusing on the body, of 40 diaries written by twenty women during their adolescent years, compared with Karen Horney's adolescent diaries. In contrary to these diaries of the other young women, Karen Horney's adolescent diaries lack a focus on the body. Instead, idealized relationships with teachers are frequently mentioned. Only in the last diary, written at the transition to young adulthood, is the body, with a focus on sexual relations, more prominent. This discrepancy between Horney and female age-mates in normative samples is noteworthy. It is discussed here with emphasis on theoretical approaches about the body in adolescence in psychoanalysis, the importance of body and sexuality in Karen Horney's later life, Horney's contributions to female psychoanalysis, and her relationship with her father.