Polyphonies of sexuality: Debates about theories/debates about paradigms

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe author addresses the diverse itineraries of sexuality and gender that challenge psychoanalytic theory and practice. She uses Bakhtin’s concepts of polyphony and dialogism as a way to approach these presentations. The article suggests that some presentations concern the field of desire and others the field of gender identity/identifications, though these fields do overlap. The author emphasises the need to avoid universal explanations and the importance of thinking about both homosexualities and transsexualities in plural, as well as decentring the equivalency between homosexuality and perversion. Drawing on debates ranging from Freud up to contemporary controversies, the author calls attention to certain points that should be rethought, such as the notion of subject being used, ideals about the categories of feminine and masculine, limits of the Oedipus complex, and raising children in unconventional families due to sexual choice or gender, among other factors. She proposes differentiating between debates about theories, which are usually based on dichotomous logics, and debates about paradigms, which involve post-binary logics and models of thinking about multiplicities and intersections. The article advocates incorporating these debates in discussions about this topic.