588
PARTISAN REVIEW
"'(OU/THE OTHeR
n
" I" -Mouth receives its sexual denomination in its relation with
" You / the Other"; "You / the Other" for "I"-Mouth is the Genitals–
either penis or vagina. On the other hand " It" is not neuter-it is
always bisexual.
The Other for " I"-Mouth is also one's own sex, one's own
genitals. At the level of lingui stic signs the penis is o ften call ed by the
proper name of its possessor, e.g., " Peter"
(Ie petit Pierre),
and
similarl y the vagina call ed e.g.,
la
petite Sophie.
In Poli sh the popular
diminutives of female names are often employed in place of the generic
name of the vagina (Zoska, Marysia).
At the profound level, a t the level, if you will, of the Unconscious,
there are two fundamental and contradictory rela ti ons between Mouth
and Genitals, between "I" and "You / the Other," symbo li c identity and
symbo lic nega tion:
R elations of symbo lic identity
a. identity of " I"-Mouth with one's own genitals.
b. transfi gured identity (d isp lacement ) of " I"-Mouth meta–
morphosed into the opposite sign: " I" -a male with vagina;
" I"-a femal e with penis.
c. identity of "Yo u / the Other" with one's own genitals.
d. symboli c identity of "You / the Other" with the opposi te
sex.
(The system of the French language seems exceptional in giving
the masculine gender to "vagin a"
(Ie
vagin)
and the feminine gender to
most of the names for the male genitals. Thus the paradox o f calling a
man
" T u es con"
is really symptomatic.)
