ABSTRACT
Masochistic submission in women–a “failure to thrive”–is approached from the perspective of undermined female desire. Masochism is viewed as a disorder of desire. A deflated sense of subjectivity can lead to a propensity for masochistic submission–a symptomatic expression of an insecure oedipal attachment. As the expression of a felt need to secure relational bonds, masochistic submission in females is directly linked to elements of the girl’s oedipal experience that may heighten insecurity regarding the capacity to obtain and retain one’s erotic object. Masochistic submission involves a relinquishment of one’s own desire, motivated by a fear of object loss. Acknowledgement and active pursuit of one’s desire is the inverse of masochistic submission, where one subjugates one’s will–one’s desire–to the will/desire of the other. This disorder of desire takes its initial form in failures of maternal eroticism that undermine pre-oedipal development and that set a fragile foundation for oedipal progression. Two clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate female inhibitions in agentic expression of self in sexuality, in love relationships, and in professional aspirations as understood within the framework presented.]
