Elles Publishing House hosted the seminar “Psychoanalysis and Femininity: Questions of Woman and Sexual Difference,” part of a series of meetings exploring the questions and tensions between psychoanalysis and feminism, and re-examining Freudian and Lacanian concepts related to woman, femininity, and sexual difference.
The first session revisited Sigmund Freud’s ideas about women by examining his texts and the concepts and terms he used. It explored the distinctions between the female, woman, femininity, gender, and sexual difference, opening up space for a more precise examination of the theoretical questions at the intersection of psychoanalysis and feminism.
The session was developed by writer and translator Mohamed El Hannawy, who specializes in Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, and psychiatrist Ahmed Ismail. It was moderated by Dina Ali, a translator and specialist in psychological support.
The series aims to create space for understanding, discussion, and critical inquiry, without presuming either to defend or condemn psychoanalysis, or to reconcile it with feminism in advance. Instead, it returns to the original texts to examine their concepts and theoretical limits.
