A challenging exploration of contemporary theories on femininity with cutting-edge papers from leading analysts, this volume presents a thought-provoking dialogue on femininity, sexuality, gender and masculinity. These key issues are analyzed and discussed in new and stimulating ways, whilst familiar concepts are dissected and dismantled to bring forward fresh ideas. The diversity and developments currently advancing studies on femininity towards new understandings are shown clearly throughout.This rich and inspiring collection of papers grew from the Sexuality and Gender conference held in Sweden in 2002, organized by the Committee on Women and Psychoanalysis. The conference was created with the conscious intent of bringing different ideas to bear upon each other in order to promote further research into this vital area. The fascinatingly diverse interpretations that the conference generated led to the desire to publish these papers for a wider audience. The contributions therefore have been reworked to provide a readable and compelling communication of different viewpoints on the subject of femininity.Contributors: Jessice Benjamin, Colette Chiland, Nancy J. Chodorow, Gisela Kaplan, Julia Kristeva, Irene Matthis, Joyce McDougall, Juliet Mitchell, Toril Moi, Paul Verhaeghe, Ebba Witt-Brattstrom."