A body of one's own. Sexual development and physical female development in the mother-child relationship]

Prevalent psychoanalytic opinion has it that (sexually) femaleness is marked by a severe deficiency. Accordingly it is widely held that the acknowledgement of female sexuality is primarily a matter for fathers rather than mothers. The author takes a different stance, insisting on the opportunities inherent in the mother-daughter relationship to the extent that it both permits and encourages pleasurable self-examination and acceptance of the body on the part of the growing girl. In the therapeutic connection, the author calls for a form of remedial socialisation to fill the specific lacunae that have developed around female sexuality.