Queer theory and the "female homosexual" of psychoanalysis

An engagement between psychoanalysis and queer theory would seem to offer a certain promise. Through a consideration of the work of queer theorists, psychoanalysts may come to think differently about their clinical practice, sex, sexuality, love, the body, ethics and identity. And the project of queer theory may be advanced by a reading of a psychoanalysis, which gives emphasis to the inherent instability of sexed subjectivity and proposes a theory of sexual difference not based on anatomical difference. Albeit from different standpoints, both disciplines foreground subjectivity, desire and sexuality. Therefore, it would seem fruitful to investigate the intersection of both fields, exploring might be produced from their engagement. My paper will elaborate the shared conceptual ground between queer theory and psychoanalysis on the topic of same sex desire between women. My title introduces three conceptually slippery, equivocal, unstable concepts. Attempts at definition of the terms “queer theory”, “female homosexual” and “psychoanalysis” uncover a myriad of associations to particular political and theoretical antecedents and allegiances. I adopt the term “female homosexual” to reflect a conformity that can be seen in the published clinical work of psycho-practitioners who have engaged with queer theory’s challenge to psychoanalysis with both Freud and those psychoanalysts who proposed revisions to his theories in the 1920s and 30s. Through an analysis of contemporary (post-queer) published clinical case histories, I will examine the impact of the engagement between the queer theory and psychoanalysis on the clinic of female homosexuality, and suggest they may signal the eventual disappointment of that certain promise

Female homosexuality: psychoanalysis and queer theory

My thesis is that psychoanalytic discourse always characterises homosexual women as masculine. I evidence this through an examination of published psychoanalytic case histories of female homosexuals from 1920 to the present day. Informed by Foucault‘s genealogical methodology, I propose that this characterisation constitutes an ―unconscious rule‖, which transcends the differences between the various schools of psychoanalysis, and which has remained constant throughout its history and impervious to the challenges and critiques of its theory and practice. Since the late 1980s, the most recent critical engagement with psychoanalysis has come from queer theory. I argue that, despite the apparent promise of this engagement, queer theory, like psychoanalysis, is subjected to the same ―rule‖: lesbians are masculine. Some have claimed that the topic of female homosexuality has been neglected by psychoanalysts. I dispute this idea, and through an examination of published clinical case histories I provide evidence of its sustained engagement with the topic. Feminist commentators have pointed to the elision of the feminine in psychoanalytic discourse. Queer theory has challenged feminism, which, it claims, neglected the specificity of the experience of homosexual women. Again through an examination of published clinical material, I investigate the specificity of female homosexuality as conceptualised by psychoanalytic practitioners. I re-read the debate of 1920s-30s within psychoanalysis, commonly referred to as the debate on feminine sexuality, proposing that it would be more accurate to describe this as a debate on the question of female (homo)sexuality. While it is claimed in the literature that the debate concluded with the outbreak of WW2, my investigation of published case histories demonstrates that this was not the case. My pursuit of the debate through a reading of published case histories follows a particular trajectory of the revisions and departures from Freud, which I characterise as the Anglo-American school. The literature on the topic identifies only one conceptualisation of female homosexuality in Freud‘s work, informed by Freud‘s only published case history of a female homosexual (1920). It is my contention that Freud theorized female homosexuality in three ways, all of which represent an Oedipal solution. I examine queer theory‘s engagement with psychoanalysis and identify two strands to that engagement. Firstly, queer theory restores psychoanalysis as a radical project, which proffers an analysis of sex and sexed subjectivity that is not complementary and biologically explained, and not in the service of (re)production. Secondly, I identify a queer mirroring of psychoanalyses‘ elision of the specificities of feminine (homo)sexualities, which logically cannot exist within queer discourse. Finally, I examine the effects of queer theory on the psychoanalytic clinic of female homosexuality. Two contradictory effects are proposed. On the one hand, a greater interest in the topic of female homosexuality can be detected, countering what is deemed to be the prevailing pathologising view of psychoanalytic thinking about female homosexuality. On the other, female homosexuality is marginalized, by less privilege being given to the object choice and the unconscious fantasies of the patients discussed by comparison with the work published by Freud and his contemporaries. Nonetheless, although less explicit in some published work, the ―unconscious rule‖ remains in place

Macroeconomic risk factors in Australian commercial real estate, listed property trust and property sector stock returns: A comparative analysis using GARCH-M

This paper employs a Generalised Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity in Mean (GARCH-M) model to consider the effect of macroeconomic factors on Australian property returns over the period 1985 to 2002 Three direct (office, retail and industrial property) and two indirect (listed property trust and property stock) returns are included in the analysis, along with market returns, short, medium and long-term interest rates, expected and unexpected inflation, construction activity and industrial employment and production. In general, the macroeconomic factors examined are found to be significant risk factors in Australian commercial property returns. However, the results also indicate that forecast accuracy in these models is higher for direct office, listed property trust and property stock returns and that the persistence of volatility shocks varies across the different markets, with volatility half lives of between five and seven months for direct retail and industrial property, two and three months for direct office property and less than two months with both forms of indirect property investment

The Use of Vocabulary in the Mathematics Classroom

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether becoming mathematically literate, through the use of vocabulary development strategies will increase students success in completing mathematical word problems. It begins with a Literature Review which finds that the use of vocabulary in the mathematics classroom can help students gain a stronger reading comprehension, which in turn helps them to become better mathematicians. In chapter three is a Unit Plan on Logic for Math 10 and Math AB, and includes teacher lesson plan and many student worksheets. Chapter Four reviews the results, with an overview, summary of the Unit Plan, test results, copy of the questionnaire and personal reflections

Modelling the usage and understanding of financial products: An empirical analysis of Australian owner-occupied and investor mortgages

Binary logit models are used to predict usage and understanding of owner-occupied and investor mortgages on the basis of demographic, socioeconomic and financial characteristics. The data is drawn from the 2003 ANZ Survey of Adult Financial Literacy in Australia and relates to 3,548 respondents. Factors examined include financial literacy, gender, age, ethnicity, occupation, educational level and family structure, along with household income, savings and debt. Understanding is defined in terms of knowledge of mortgage rates, fees and charges and familiarity with key mortgage terms. The results indicate that being middle-aged or a couple with children increases the likelihood of an owner-occupied mortgage, while being from a non-English speaking background, a small business owner or a skilled tradesman increases the likelihood of an investor mortgage. The evidence also suggests that understanding of mortgages is unevenly spread across mortgagees. Understanding is generally poorer for females, rural and regional households and the young, and better for professionals, the university educated and small business owners and skilled tradesmen. The area least understood is mortgage fees and charges