Talking Sex, Talking Gender—A Roundtable

Abstract

This is an edited transcript of a roundtable held in the Spring of 2012, at the invitation of the Toronto Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, where 4 of the most important psychoanalytic thinkers in the fields of gender and sexuality, Adrienne Harris, Virginia Goldner, Muriel Dimen, and Ken Corbett, came together to discuss the state of the field. Each of the participants prepared 1 question for each of the others. The discussion explored some of the historical areas these scholars researched as well as more current ones: the development of gender as a theoretical focus and its manifestations in social discourse now; sexual development, variance, and expression; the relations between gender and sexuality studies and the thrust of the women’s and queer liberation movements; the significance of different theoretical frameworks in understanding gender and sexuality, from traditional psychoanalytic notions to chaos theory; clinical considerations; and sexual boundary violations. This roundtable provides rare, sometimes personal, always rigorous, and illuminating snapshots of the work and the place of these minds now.

Notes

¹ For a thorough background on nonlinear dynamic systems theory see: Harris (2005) and Gleick (1987).

² See Ken’s elaboration on the topic.

³ For a full elaboration see Corbett (2009).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ken Corbett

Ken Corbett, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor at the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis.

Muriel Dimen

Muriel Dimen, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology, New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, and Editor-in-Chief, Studies in Gender and Sexuality. Her most recent edited book is With Culture in Mind: Psychoanalytic Stories. Her Sexuality, Intimacy, Power received the Goethe Award, Canadian Psychological Association.

Virginia Goldner

Virginia Goldner, Ph.D., is Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychology, New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, and was the Founding Editor of Studies in Gender and Sexuality.

Adrienne Harris

Adrienne Harris, Ph.D., is Faculty and Supervisor at the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. She is on the faculty and is a supervisor at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California. She is a member and Training Analyst in the IPA. She is an Editor at Psychoanalytic Dialogues and Studies In Gender and Sexuality. In 2009, she, Lewis Aron, and Jeremy Safron established the Sandor Ferenczi Center at the New School University. She and Lew Aron co-edit the book series Relational Perspectives in Psychoanalysis, a series now with over 50 published volumes.