ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Irene Cairo outlines the evolution of her thinking in regard to feminine ideals. In reviewing her history, her background, her general education, her psychoanalytic training, and her clinical experience, she has become acutely aware of the cultural experiences that have shaped ideas she now sees as prejudices. She uses clinical vignettes to illustrate how her understanding of female patients has changed in light of her more complex conception of feminine development. She also discusses briefly the influences that affect our psychoanalytic selves while we are at the same time members of a culture.
