Hiding in Plain Sight: Appreciating the Significance of Women's Secondary Psychosexuality

Women's psychosexuality remains an underdeveloped area in mainstream psychoanalysis. The paper argues for psychoanalytic recognition of women's secondary psychosexual development, that is, an extended developmental vantage point that includes women's pubertal and reproductive experiences. The author's arguments are illustrated through in-depth interview data from a research project that was conducted with mothers from thirty to sixty years old. The author proposes that women are subjected to at least three types of psychological conflict related to their secondary psychosexual events and processes. As a consequence of this, significant psychological challenge is encountered, but also the potential for substantial psychological growth. The three groupings of conflict have been formulated as Bodily evacuations: Continence versus incontinence; Bodily unpredictability: Plasticity versus constancy; and Bodily prohibitions: Social policing versus personal agency. Menstruation and lactation are discussed in relation to these three categories of conflict.