Psychoanalysis and Feminism: A Radical Reassessment of Freudian Psychoanalysis (Paperback)

by Juliet Mitchell (Author), Sangay K Mishra (Author) "No understanding of Freud's ideas on femininity and female sexuality is possible without some grasp of two fundamental theories: firstly, the nature of unconscious mental..." (more)
Key Phrases: second metapsychology, passive aims, character armour, The Divided Self, New York, Three Essays (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Juliet Mitchell has risked accusations of apostasy from her fellow feminists. Her book not only challenges orthodox feminism, however, it defies the conventions of social thought in the English-speaking countries... Psychoanalysis and Feminism is a brave and important book, and its influence will not be confined to feminists" -- New York Review of Books

Product Description
A groundbreaking book-the first to argue that feminism must draw on psychoanalysis to understand the ideological oppression of women.

In 1974, at the height of the women's movement, Juliet Mitchell shocked her fellow feminists by challenging the entrenched belief that Freud was the enemy. She argued that a rejection of psychoanalysis as bourgeois and patriarchal was fatal for feminism. However it may have been used, she pointed out, psychoanalysis is not a recommendation for a patriarchal society, but rather an analysis of one. "If we are interested in understanding and challenging the oppression of women," she says, "we cannot afford to neglect psychoanalysis."

In an introduction written specially for this reissue, Mitchell reflects on the changing relationship between these two major influences on twentieth-century thought. Original and provocative, Psychoanalysis and Feminism remains an essential component of the feminist canon.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; New ed of 2 Revised ed edition (August 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465046088
• ISBN-13: 978-0465046089
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #372,459 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excerpt, October 17, 2001

By	"neeterskeeter27" (http://www.neeterskeeter.com/new) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psychoanalysis and Feminism (Paperback)

I just wanted to give an excerpt from this book so that interested buyers can read the main ideas and have a better idea of the author's purpose. This excerpt is from the Introduction: "The greater part of the feminist movement has identified Freud as the enemy. It is held that psychoanalysis claims women are infereior and that they can achieve true femininity only as wives and mothers... I would agree that popularized Freudianism must answer to this description; but the argument of this book is that a rejection of psychoanalysis and of Freud's works is fatal for feminism... If we are interested in understanding and challenging the oppression of women, we cannot afford to neglect it."

In general this is an important work for anyone interested in Feminism or Psychology to read. The points that Mitchell makes are applicable for anyone in these fields.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excerpt, October 17, 2001

By	"neeterskeeter27" (http://www.neeterskeeter.com/new) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psychoanalysis and Feminism (Paperback)

I just wanted to give an excerpt from this book so that interested buyers can read the main ideas and have a better idea of the author's purpose. This excerpt is from the Introduction: "The greater part of the feminist movement has identified Freud as the enemy. It is held that psychoanalysis claims women are infereior and that they can achieve true femininity only as wives and mothers... I would agree that popularized Freudianism must answer to this description; but the argument of this book is that a rejection of psychoanalysis and of Freud's works is fatal for feminism... If we are interested in understanding and challenging the oppression of women, we cannot afford to neglect it."

In general this is an important work for anyone interested in Feminism or Psychology to read. The points that Mitchell makes are applicable for anyone in these fields.