ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author demonstrates with convincing clinical material a fraudulent femininity in a certain type of woman, not overtly homosexual, but not fully heterosexual. This bisexual woman hides a wish for masculinity behind a mask of womanliness to avert anxiety and the retribution she fears from both men and women. The author traces the roots of the homosexual development in women to frustration during sucking or weaning which gives rise to intense sadism towards both parents, particularly the mother. The mask of womanliness was being peeled away, and she was revealed either as castrated, or as wishing to castrate. In every-day life one may observe the mask of femininity taking curious forms. The conception of womanliness as a mask, behind which man suspects some hidden danger, throws a little light on the enigma.
