The Psychoanalysis of Sexual Functions of Women

Helene Deutsch was born in Przemysl, Poland, in 1884. After studying medicine at the University of Vienna School of Medicine she worked during World war I as a full-time assistant at the Wagner-Jauregg psychiatric clinic. During this period her interest in psychoanalytic ideas grew to such an extent that she eventually entered into analysis with Freud, resigned from her position at the clinic, and became a member of the Vienna Psycho-Analytic Society. Her contributions to the Society were quickly recognized when, in January 1925, the Vienna Training Institute was established, she was nominated its Director. In 1935 she left Vienna for America, eventually settling with her husband, Felix Deutsch, in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she took up work as a lecturer at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. Paul Roazen is Professor of Political Science at York University in Toronto, Canada. His books include 'Brother Animal: The Story of Freud and Tausk, Freud and his Followers, Helene Deutsch: A Psychoanalyst's Life', and 'Encountering Freud: The Politics and Histories of Psychoanalysis'.

Preface -- Introduction -- Female infantile sexuality -- The masculinity complex in women -- Differentiation between male and female in the reproductive period -- The psychology of puberty -- The act of defloration -- Psychology of the sex act -- Frigidity and sterility -- Pregnancy and confinement -- The psychology of childbed -- Lactation -- The menopause