ABSTRACT
Diane Hamer’s impressive article ‘Significant others’ (1990) is one of the rare attempts I have come across to assess lesbianism in analytical theory without pathologizing it. Her assumption that analysis does not necessarily have to categorize lesbianism in terms of illness seems to me a valid way to rethink lesbianism in psychoanalytical terms. Such an approach could do the same for lesbian relations as for heterosexual ones; it could allow a better understanding of psychic relations and lift the restrictions that have hampered our thought. Unfortunately, analysis has often been misused in a different way, namely to pathologize, destroy and marginalize lesbian love. Diane Hamer managed to use analytical theory for a positive understanding of lesbian life. However, I still cannot quite agree with the assessment of lesbianism she prescribes. So I will try to elaborate my own thoughts on the subject.
