PRIMARY FEMININITY, BISEXUALITY, AND THE FEMALE EGO IDEAL - A REEXAMINATION OF FEMALE DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY

While the concept of primary femininity advances our understanding of the girl's developmental experience, a number of contradictions and pr oblematic assumptions are at the present time contained within this co ncept. I propose that we use the phrase ''primary, sense of femalness' ' to refer to the girl's earliest sense of self deriving from the ment al representation of her body. In addition, I argue that the concepts of a primary sense of femaleness and of a bisexual matrix are not mutu ally exclusive; an early sense of self located in a female body can co -exist with the fantasy of potential unlimited by gender Finally, I ex amine the role of the mother as ego ideal for the girl.