A Feminist Therapy Approach Towards "A Standard Pair"

Abstract

In this article a heterosexual couple is presented as the typical male/female stereotype of the rational/emotional split. The authors argue that family therapy's traditional concept of complementariry is a framework for how these couples function ignores the obvious: that it is men who demonstrate one set of characteristics, women the other; they are gender-determined. Furthermore, the concept of complementarity masks the nature of the inequality of the two positions. The authors, all feminist family therapists, borrow the term hysteric-obsessional relationship from psychoanalytic theory. They focus on the mutual projection system, a system which originates in the couple's respective relationships with their mothers, without falling into the trap of Mother-blaming.