Sonia: The Vicissitudes of Masturbatory Fantasies in a Preoedipal Child

Abstract

Sonia is a case study of a little girl who presented at age 2 years, 10 months for temper tantrums that drove her parents crazy. Gradually, her doll play revealed a preoccupation with the genital difference and explicit references to her “lost penis,” accompanied by frank urogenital sensations. This play, as well as bedtime anxiety, led to our understanding the extent to which she was absorbed in symptomatic masturbatory behavior that, in turn, was interfering with her development and spoke to the need for more intensive treatment. In the course of her ensuing analysis, which began at age 4, we uncovered the multiple meanings and secondary gains embedded in her masturbatory behavior and accompanying fantasies. Furthermore, over time, we uncovered evidence of a learning difference that had contributed substantially both to her sense of defectiveness and to her ability to master learning about her body and about her affects.

Notes

¹In my office, I have several gender-neutral baby dolls that can be “fed” water, which then drips out through a small hole in the genital area when held upright. I also have two fifteen-inch molded plastic baby dolls that are identical except that the boy has a molded plastic penis and the girl has a blond ponytail and an indentation in the genital area designed to suggest labial lips.

²Although Sonia's description sounds remarkably like a circumcision, her parents said that she had not observed one, although she may have overheard one described, which, like a dream, she may have conflated with what she had learned by exploring her genitals “with her fingers,” feeling the clitoris as a “bump,” finding skin that can be “pushed back,” and possibly even having overheard a description of menstruation.