ABSTRACT

The classical concept of sexual difference is questioned from different angles. On the one hand, from new theoretical and experiential positions in relation to women and the feminine which undoubtedly exert a strong effect on the field of the masculine. On the other hand, from ever more visible sexual and gender diversities manifest in contemporary cultures. Sexuality both feminine and masculine is implicated in the field of desire and the drive. There are always differences between the concept of object and that of otherness in psychoanalysis. Among different proposals on otherness, meanings diverge, sometimes significantly, but they all manifest the need to include the concept of otherness both for study of construction of sexed subjectivity and critical analysis of the concept of sexual difference as well as for clinical practice. Notwithstanding, whenever sexual difference is discussed in the psychoanalytic field, the concept of otherness inevitably emerges and with notable frequency has been considered equivalent to the feminine and woman.