ABSTRACT
Finally, in case 3, Freud pointed to a typical difficulty we have in bringing together the affectionate and erotic currents in our life. Little boys tend to idealize their mothers and, as they become more sexually aware, they keep at a distance the idea that their beloved mothers actually participate in this messy, strange sexual activity. What can emerge in adult life is a person who finds it difficult to be sexually attracted to women he admires; and difficult to admire women to whom he feels attracted. This may distort his perception of most women. The point, again, is not that he should fulfill the social ideal of admiring and being attracted to the same woman; it is that he is likely to over-idealize some, and unfairly disparage others. He is forcing women to fit into specific roles in his imaginative life; and in this way he distorts reality.
