ABSTRACT

Perfection is seen by many as more than just a highly desirable means of achieving recognition and social success. It also has an intra-psychic function, quite often serving as a defence against feelings of worthlessness, shame and guilt (Steiner 2006). Already in his early papers on obsessional neurosis, Freud (1959 [1907], 1959 [1908]) had pointed out that some features specific to the personality of the obsessional neurotic patient represent highly esteemed social values, such as orderliness, accuracy, punctuality, saving money, etc. The similarity of these personality traits on the manifest level with socially desirable behaviours may serve, then, to mask the individual’s pathology. The same can be said of hysterical traits, which in Freud’s historical moment were commonly attributed to women. In our contemporary moment, one might argue, we find ourselves in a different position, wherein the traditional female stereotypes are no longer valid, accuracy is no longer exacted by an authoritarian super-ego, and identity has become fluid through digital interaction (Bollas 2015).