Article

Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society (2007) 12, 124–141. doi:10.1057/palgrave.pcs.2100117

Two Bodies in the Room: An Intersubjective View of Female Objectification

Catherine Baker-Pitts1

1Private Practice, New York, NY, USA

Correspondence: Catherine Baker-Pitts, Private Practice, The Women's Therapy Centre Institute, 560 West End Avenue, #1e New York, NY 10024, USA. E-mail: Bakercate@aol.com

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Abstract

This article discusses the effects of female sexual objectification on developing subjectivity and the importance of exploring the patient's associations to the female analyst's body in psychoanalytic work. The patient's subjective responses to the analyst's body can challenge intricate defenses against dependency that are socially constructed, centered on the female body, and tied to bad internal objects. By tending to the other body in the room and also allowing her body to be used as both an object and subject, the analyst offers the potential for an embodied relationship in which the patient may reflect on her interpersonal experience.

Keywords:

sexual objectification, self-objectification, embodiment, female subjectivity, intersubjectivity

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