ABSTRACT
In the last decade, researchers have repeatedly emphasized the fateful 77consequences of "paternal insufficiency during the pivotal second year of life (Ross, 1 979). During this critical period in the articulation of self and core gender identity, a lack of actual or felt fathering leaves a boy at risk on various fronts: his masculinity and selfhood uncertaini his elemental knowledge of sex difference befuddledi his fears of fusion and attendant emasculation pronounced.
