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đŸȘ” The Threshold

Female erotic development is psychological, not anatomically determined.

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tagsja-picks, define, xref, candy, contrarian_or_surprising, trade, singleton, category/contrarian-or-surprising
aliases@de_beauvoir_second_1949, loc. 1033

2 min read

Female erotic development is psychological, not anatomically determined.

Evidence

Even in women physiologically normal themselves, it has sometimes been asserted that there is a distinction between “clitoral” and “vaginal” women, the former being destined to sapphic love; but it has been seen that all childhood eroticism is clitoral; whether it remains fixed at this stage or is transformed has nothing to do with anatomical facts; nor is it true, as has often been maintained, that infant masturbation explains the ulterior primacy of the clitoral system: a child’s masturbation is recognized today by sexologists as an absolutely normal and generally widespread phenomenon. The development of feminine eroticism is—we have seen—a psychological situation in which physiological factors are included, but which depends on the subject’s overall attitude to existence. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1033

Categorization

  • DEFINE: Clarifies that ‘clitoral vs vaginal’ woman as destiny is a false biological determinism — childhood eroticism is universally clitoral.
  • XREF: Directly targets Freud’s clitoral-to-vaginal theory of female maturation; connects to later psychoanalytic critique in chs. 5-6. — connects to: Female penis envy is not innate but learned and variable. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 684; Adolescent girls lack any cultural bridge linking male anatomy to romantic desire; Repression, not awareness, is what upbringing imposes on girls’ sexual development — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 791 (+5 more)
  • CANDY: The myth that all childhood eroticism is clitoral regardless of later orientation is a quick, tweetable refutation of a common misconception.

Broader Connections

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