"Bye-Bye" to Bisexuality: Response to Lynne Layton
Author: Elise D.
Source: Studies in Gender and Sexuality, Volume 1, Number 1, 14 January 2000 , pp. 61-61(1)
Publisher: Analytic Press
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Abstract:
Recogizing heterosexual assumptions in psychoanalytic gender theory, the author underscores the theoretical and clinical utility of the concept of psychic bisexuality. Gender polarities can be either contested or confirmed depending on how this concept is used. One may collude with gender binaries or recognize that such splitting exists in the psyche. When attention is paid to the defensive nature of splitting, the possiblity exists of integrating within an individual's sense of self what have been assumed to be qualities of the other sex. Bisexual omnipotence or overinclusiveness should not refer to psychological characteristics that have come to be aligned with one gender or the other. These terms should be reserved for the wish to be both sexes. Gender identity is best referred to as either inclusive (flexible and integrated) or underinclusive/exclusive (rigid normative splitting into "feminine" and "masculine").Language: English
Document Type: Research article
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