Seduction and Desire: The Psychoanalytic Theory of Sexuality Since Freud

New forms of relationship and family as well as a pluralization of sexual ways of living characterize modern society 100 years after Freud. The author gives a systematic presentation of psychoanalytic theories and develops a model of human sexuality that transgresses gender-binarities, integrates “male” -phallic and “female” -receptive parts, and encompasses the diversity of gender identifications and sexual varieties. She highlights the structural similarities between heterosexuality, homosexuality, and perversion and argues for a universal human sexuality in which men and women differ less between the sexes but individually. Freud’s genital primacy is questioned as well as the cultural primacy of heterosexuality. Finally the author points out the consequences of this perspective for psychoanalytic clinical practice.