ABSTRACT
Jung’s erudite knowledge of, and interest, in cultures other than his own is the reason that his writings are of interest in so many different spheres of human endeavour. Critically appraised, Jung’s insights continue to offer a valuable means of understanding the human psyche. However, some of the views he expressed pose a challenge to present-day analytical psychologists. When considering the feminine in analytical psychology we are inevitably confronted by the contradictions in his attitude. The concept of contrasexuality is at the centre of Jung’s understanding of the human psyche. However, this is not simple because, whilst some of Jung’s most poetic insights refer to the concept of anima, his most androcentric passages are written in discussion of animus. Jungian analysts and theorists are therefore confronted with a problem that, if not addressed, leaves us open to justified criticism from colleagues. Jung’s theories cannot be applied unquestioningly in a postfeminist era, yet it would be a considerable loss to dismiss the potential that is offered by this means of conceptualizing the psyche. In this paper it is my intention to discuss some of the problems which a Jungian approach to the feminine evokes but also to affirm its validity through a brief clinical example.
