The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and the Problem of DomincationWhy do people submit to authority and derive pleasure even others have over them? What is the appeal of domination and submission, and why are they so prevalent in erotic life? Why is it so difficult for men and women to meet as equals? Why, indeed, do hey continue to recapitulate the positions of master and slave? In The Bonds of Love, noted feminist theorist and psychoanalyst Jessica Benjamin explains why we accept and perpetuate relationships of domination and submission. She reveals that domination is a complex psychological process which ensnares both parties in bonds of complicity, and shows how it underlies our family life, our social institutions, and especially our sexual relations, in spite of our conscious commitment to equality and freedom. |
Contents
The First Bond | 11 |
Master and Slave | 51 |
Womans Desire | 85 |
The Oedipal Riddle | 133 |
Gender and Domination | 183 |
Conclusion | 219 |
Notes 245 | 283 |
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agency aggression argues assertion attunement autonomy baby becomes Chasseguet-Smirgel child Chodorow critics critique culture defense dependency desire destruction difference differentiation early ego ideal ego psychology Eros erotic domination experience fantasy father fear feel Female Sexuality femininity Feminism feminist Freud Freudian gender identity gender polarity girl's girls Hans Loewald Hegel helplessness idea ideal love identification identificatory love independence individual infant interaction International intersubjective intersubjective theory intrapsychic Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel Juliet Mitchell Lasch male masculine masochism maternal moral mother motherhood mutual recognition narcissism narcissistic nurturance object relations object relations theory oedipal model Oedipus complex omnipotence paradox parents paternal law penis envy person phallic phallus phase play pleasure preoedipal problem psyche psychic psychoanalytic theory Psychology rapprochement rationality reality recognize relationship represents repudiation role sadomasochism sense separation social splitting struggle submission superego symbolic tension tion University Press Winnicott wish woman women York