title: Rational and irrational. Remarks on the clinical gendering of language in psychoanalysis.
abstract: This paper extends Hartmann's skepticism about the heuristic value of the polarized terms "rational" and "irrational" lest they be used for future theory building. Clinically--now, as in ancient times--a close correlation exists between this polarity and that of common-parlance value judgments--"masculine/rational/positive" and "feminine/irrational/negative." Primitive ambivalence concerning the repudiation of femininity is explored here in both sexes. A suggestion is raised that it may be the female's capacity for pregnancy, rather than the infantile reaction to genital difference, that is the most vital underpinning of the age-old negative view of women.
authors: Yale University.
authors: R H
authors: RH
authors: Balsam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011606:Psychosexual Development; D012723:Sex