M. MITSCHERLICH-NIELSEN
69
ion the discovery of the an aLOmica l difference between the sexes alone
cannot expl ain peni s envy.
It
is the narcissisti c overra ting of the
process of evacua tion in the anal phase, the infantil e exhibitionism in
whi ch the boy is allowed , indeed encouraged
to
grasp hi s member
whil e urina ting, which is understood as permi ss ion to mas turba te,
which first leads to an understandable envy of the boy and his-in a
child's view- superior sexual equipment and freedom . This infantil e
penis envy is generall y o bserva ble, but is of onl y passing impo rlance.
Horney could no t di scover the las ting effect on the la ter development o f
the woman tha t Freud a ttributed to p eni s envy. She con sidered tha t this
could onl y be caused by neuroti c development mostl y initia ted by
traumatic experi ences a t the time of the Oedi pal conflict. Wha t Horney
describes as "seconda ry pen is envy" is the expression of a defen se
against Oedi pa l wishes, whi ch cause anxiety. T he result of such
anxiety is tha t the g irl ren ounces the fa ther as love-obj ect and identifies
with him in stead . According to Horney, thi s identifica tion with the
father, whi ch is the occasion of h er making comparisons, is what first
gives ri se to feelings of envy of the ma le and initia tes the girl's phallic
phase. Although Horney's observa ti on s are va lid in many cases, in my
view she underestima tes the lasting effect of traditional, gen eration-old
parental identifica ti ons and va lues- especiall y the mother's- on the
girl 's earl y development. T he effect of these values begins a t birth and
makes it possibl e for the lillie g irl to experience her lack of a penis as a
palpable p roof of her own inferi ority. Clinical experience tends to
support the beli ef tha t the g irl 's phallic phase-i.e., her wish to be a
man-i s vari able; it does no t represent a generall y observable, rigid
stage of development, but depends ra ther on the pa rents' attitude to
femininity. Parental modes of behav io r at the time of the Oedipal
confli ct, or even earli er, may often lead to the girl's identification not
with her mother, but with her mo re hi ghl y va lued fa ther. Although it
is true tha t we can often observe lillIe girl s reactin g enviousl y when
they noti ce the boy's phalli c exhibitions, in my own judgment the
corresponding perception of a physical lack can onl y be considered the
cause of a female sense of defi ciency if the parents share society'S low
valuation of women and-con sc iou sly or unconsciously- express this
in their a ttitude to their daughter.
Melani e Kl ein and Helene Deutsch, two of the best known
psychoanalysts to concern themselves with female sexuality, see the
obj ect-cho ice of the fa ther and hi s phallus as a deriva tive of the original
turn to the mother's breast, and the female French psychoanalyst,
Chasseguet-Smirgel, sees penis envy as a derivative of the envy of an
