ABSTRACT

"The Enigma of Modern Woman" was the title of the Freud Lecture Hildi Greenson gave in Philadelphia, and to the convention of the American Medical Association in Las Vegas he spoke on "Sexual Apathy in the Male." Greenson began by saying that he was turning his attention to these topics because he had become increasingly impressed by the misconceptions, confusions, and disagreements that exist about sex, sexual practices, and masculinity and femininity. In this chapter the author describes the changes in masculine and feminine behavior which he has observed clinically and also in people at large. Then he proposes to explore some of the powerful resistances which interfere with psychiatrists' increasing knowledge about this subject. Finally, the author indicates a more systematic approach which might help clarify some of the issues. His clinical observations have persuaded him to change some of his own theoretical thinking on the subject.