Sexualization and desexualization

This paper is a reconsideration of the role of sexualization in psychoanalysis. After a review of the accepted definitions of sexualization as defense and/or part of normal sexuality, a new explanation is offered. This posits sexualization as a psychological manifestation of a structural deficit and suggests analytic treatment as a process of structuralization. These terms are defined and illustrated. A case example demonstrates the thesis, and some implications of this concept are discussed.