Psychoanalysis & Women (i)

In my research on psychoanalytic philosophy (of mind), psychology, and therapy, I have come across, not surprisingly of course, critiques, analyses, and discussions of “psychoanalysis and women,” a topic that understandably and rightly overlaps with “psychoanalysis and feminism.” I am more or less a novice (in terms of systematic investigation) on this topic and, being a man, tread this intellectual territory with some trepidation. But apprehension or fear in such matters is usually overcome or diminishes with time and the corresponding increasing familiarity with the terrain. For now, these titles are providing me with the requisite sense of direction and bearings, serving as maps for further exploration. If you know of a book that you believe likewise indispensable in this regard, please share it with us in the comments.

• Appignanesi, Lisa and John Forrester. Freud’s Women. New York: Basic Books, 1992.
• Benjamin, Jessica. The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and the Problem of Domination. New York: Pantheon Books, 1988.
• Chodorow, Nancy. The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999 (with new preface; first published in 1978).
• Mitchell, Juliet. Psychoanalysis and Feminism: A Radical Reassessment of Freudian Psychoanalysis. New York: Basic Books, 2000 (first published by Allen Lane, 1974).
• Zanardi, Claudia, ed. Essential Papers on the Psychology of Women. New York: New York University Press, 1990.