Disorienting Sexuality: Psychoanalytic Reappraisals of Sexual Identities

by Thomas Domenici (Editor), Ronnie C. Lesser (Editor)

Overview

Disorienting Sexuality exposes the biases against gay men and lesbians in psychoanalytic theory and practice. In the introduction, Domenici and Lesser draw a brief history of anti-homosexual sentiment in psychoanalysis. The book then moves into essays written by lesbian and gay psychoanalysts seeking to have a voice in the reshaping of psychoanalytic theories of sexuality. The second section is devoted to presenting different theoretical perspectives for understanding both homosexuality and heterosexuality. Disorienting Sexuality concludes with the personal narratives of gay and lesbian psychoanalysts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781317721994
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/23/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	313
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Thomas Domenici is a psychologist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay area and a graduate of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Ronnie C. Lesser is a psychologist in private practice in Westchester and Manhattan and a candidate in the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Thomas Domerdci, Ronnie C. Lesser; Part 1 New Voices: Gay and Lesbian Psychoanalysts; Chapter 1 Some Thoughts on the Role of Mourning in the Development of a Positive Lesbian Identity, Lee Crespi; Chapter 2 Exploding the Myth of Sexual Psychopathology A Deconstruction of Fairbairn’s Anti-Homosexual Theory, Thomas Domenici; Chapter 3 Countertransference Obscurity in the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Homosexual Patients, Martin Stephen Frommer; Chapter 4 Objectivity as Masquerade, Ronnie C. Lesser; Chapter 5 Psychoanalysis and Women’s Experiences of “Coming Out” The Necessity of Becoming a “Bee-Charmer”, Maggie Magee, Diana C. Miller; Chapter 6 Current Psychoanalytic Discourses on Sexuality Tripping Over the Body, David Schwartz; Part 2 Rethinking Sexuality: Theoretical Perspectives; Chapter 7 On “Our Nature” Prolegomenon to a Relational Theory of Sexuality, Muriel Dimen; Chapter 8 Re-Reading Freud on Homosexuality, Robert May; Chapter 9 Passionate Differences Lesbianism, Post-Modernism, and Psychoanalysis, Noreen O’Connor; Chapter 10 Psychoanalysis with Gay and Lesbian People: An Interpersonal Perspective, Richard Rutkin; Chapter 11 The Evolution of My Views on Nonnormative Sexual Practices, Roy Schafer; Chapter 12 Psychoanalytic Theories of Lesbian Desire: A Social Constructionist Critique, Erica Schoenberg; Part 3 Lesbian and Gay Psychoanalysts: Their Encounters with Anti-Homosexuality; Chapter 13 Anti-Homosexual Bias in Training, Jack Drescher; Chapter 14 The Difficulty of Being a Gay Psychoanalyst During the Last Fifty Years: An Interview with Dr. Bertram Schaffner, Stephen B. Goldman; Chapter 15 A View from Both Sides: Coming Out as a Lesbian Psychoanalyst, April Martin; Part 4 Conclusion; Chapter 16 The Shaping of Psychoanalytic Theory and Practice by Cultural and Personal Biases About Sexuality, Mark J. Blechner;

What People are Saying About This

Jay Greenberg

The essays in this volume are passionate, provocative, brilliant, always illuminating. Together, they explore the most fundamental questions about the nature of desire, sexuality, gender... I cannot imagine a reader who would not come away from this volume with broadened vision and deepened understanding of issues which are among the most central and vexing in psychoanalysis today.
— Jay Greenberg, Training and Supervising Analyst, William Alanson White Institute, and editor, Contemporary Psychoanalysis

Jessica Benjamin

This stimulating volume represents a vital piece of work in the transformation of psychoanalysis. Whereas up until now the psychoanalytic discussion of homosexuality has treated it as mainly a condition to be analyzed, these essays, mostly by gay and lesbian analysts, take homosexuality as a position from which to critique established ideas about sexuality and gender. Working with an intimate and sophisticated knowledge of both clinical practice and contemporary theory, these writings expose crucial problems in our discipline and open up questions of sexuality and gender in important ways.
— Jessica Benjamin, author of The Bonds of Love and Like Subjects, Love Objects

Editorial Reviews

"The essays in this volume are passionate, provocative, often brilliant, always illuminating. Together, they explore the most fundamental questions about the nature of desire, sexuality, gender, and psychoanalytic discourse itself. I cannot imagine a reader who would not come away from this volume with broadened vision and deepened understanding of issues which are among the most central and most vexing in psychoanalysis today." — Jay Greenberg, Ph. D., Training and Supervising Analyst, William Alanson White Institute and Editor, Contemporary Psychoanalysis
"This stimulating volume represents a vital piece of work in the transformation of psychoanalysis. Whereas up until now the psychoanalytic discussion of homosexuality has treated it as mainly a condition to be analyzed, these essays, mostly by gay and lesbian analysts, take homosexuality as a position from which to critique established ideas about sexuality and gender. Working with an intimate and sophisticated knowledge of both clinical practice and contemporary theory, these writings expose crucial problems in our discipline and open up questions of sexuality and gender in important ways." — Jessica Benjamin, author of The Bonds of Love and Like Subjects, Love Objects
"All of the articles are well documented and are written with authority . . . Recommended." — Library Journal
"...an important contribution to the changing views toward sexuality and identity..." — Journal of Religion and Health

From the Publisher