The Femininization of the Female Oedipal Complex, Part Ii: Aggression Reconsidered

Abstract

This paper examines and explores the manifestations of aggressive impulses in the so-called female oedipal complex. The authors describe how competitive aggression on the part of young girls, seemingly missing in children's stories and myths, is unconsciously inhibited, disguised, or externalized. They report similar phenomena in women patients involved in triangular conflicts, and present a selected review of the literature on the inhibition of aggression within the female triangular situation. Stressing dynamic patterns in the object relationships in the female triangular situation, the authors offer a psychological explanation for this inhibition. They present clinical material to demonstrate how overt murderous and competitive aggression toward the mother appears after considerable analytic work. They conclude that girls and women frequently relinquish a sense of agency over both aggression and sexuality in dealing with triangular conflicts, to preserve a safe relationship with their mothers.

Learning from women with psychosis

“…In their article on female aggression, Holtzman and Kulish (2003) argue that uniquely feminine characteristics have not been fully recognized or incorporated into psychoanalytic theories. They describe how competitive aggression on the part of young girls, seemingly missing in children's stories and myths, is unconsciously inhibited, disguised or externalized.…”

“…Chodorow (1978) and Lerner (1980) have suggested that separation is especially difficult and salient for the little girl as compared with the little boy. Holtzman and Kulish (2000) argued that the anxieties of separation from mother, particularly in the context of pre-oedipal troubled relationships were of greater importance than power or powerlessness as illustrated in the Oedipus complex. In adults with psychotic illness both genders experience loss and separation but it appears ironic that women whose psychotic illnesses suggest the highest incidence of disturbed pre-oedipal object relationships are exposed to repeated transfers in specialized services.…”

On Myths and Myth-Making: Psychoanalytic Theorizing about Mother—Daughter Relationships and The “Female Oedipus Complex”

“…Kulish and Holtzman also focus primarily upon but one (albeit important) aspect of mother-daughter relationships, while they scant other aspects of something that is actually much more multifaceted and complex than they depict it to be in their papers (e.g., Holtzman andKulish 2000, 2003) and in this book. They place powerful emphasis upon the very special connection between mothers and daughters that exists from birth and even before birth, a vital connection that creates a serious dilemma for both of them as the little girl moves on from dyadic to triadic developmental organization.…”

Obstacles to Oedipal Passion

“…A passionate woman is perceived as flamboyant, phallic, "loose," and dangerous. These prohibitions can become translated into well-known resistances in clinical work (Holtzman and Kulish 2003).…”