Women and desire: disruptions in engagement

Abstract

Engaged desire reflects agency, creativity and an external expression of subjectivity. Desire can be expressed in many forms and, if acted upon, is always transformative. Where desire exists so does a subject and object – that is to say desire is relational and socially constructed. For women, as well as for men, desire tells a cultural and therefore a gendered story. Despite 30 years of post‐feminist social change, the thwarting of women's desire is pervasive and endemic to our culture. Intrapsychically, through the process of normal dissociation, desire resides in a self state that may remain out of awareness. In the psychotherapy relationship this dissociation may be shared by both therapist and patient resulting in a less fulfilling analysis.