Lacan and the feminine: some critical considerations

Abstract

This article proceeds to analyze the contribution of Lacanian thinking to the debate on the issue of the feminine in psychoanalysis. We discuss the thesis on the Thing and the Object so as to have a better understanding of how these concepts, together with the notion of the subject of the unconscious, constitute the formula of the "non sexual relation". We sketch the idea of the woman as "not entirely in the phallic function", and elaborate on the "surplus of enjoyment". The beginning point is: does Lacan actually confer to the feminine the true statute of alterity, or does he remain bound to a western tradition where the Other never frees himself from the one which intends himself to be One and, as a result, either expels the difference or makes it its hostage?