Women and Desire: Beyond Wanting to be Wanted

Polly Young-Eisendrath’s Women and Desire: Beyond Wanting to Be Wanted was first published by Harmony Books in 1999. Since then, it has become a classic read for those readers- to use a cinematographic expression - who want to use analytical psychology to shed light on what women want. This book, when first published, was described (and still is) as ＂provocative and vital.＂
More than 20 years after its publication, this book still shows effectively ＂how to break out of this double bind so that＂ women ＂can encounter the challenges of choice and responsibility for our own desires.＂ The author ＂wisely uses mythological and personal stories to help us take control of our sexual, relational, material, and spiritual lives.＂ Therefore, ＂If you feel confused, resentful, or trapped in a life that does not seem to be fully yours, then you can find a clear path to your true self, once and for all, with the help of Women and Desire.＂
This book is the second of the series titled Jungianeum: Re-Covered Classics in Analytical Psychology curated by Stefano Carpani.

Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D., is a psychologist, writer, speaker and Jungian analyst who has published 18 books (translated into 20 languages) including Love Between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path, The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance, The Cambridge Companion to Jung and The Present Heart: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Discovery. She maintains a clinical practice in Central Vermont and hosts the podcast Enemies: From War to Wisdom that provides a fresh look at human hostilities and what to do about them. She is a lifelong Buddhist practitioner and a mindfulness teacher.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Wanting to Be Wanted

Chapter 2 The Menace of Female Beauty

Chapter 3 Sex through the Looking Glass

Chapter 4 Hothouse Mothering and the Divine Child

Chapter 5 The Material Girl and the Hungry Ghost

Chapter 6 The Spiritual Problem of Giving Your Self Away

Chapter 7 The Paradox of Freedom and Desire

Notes

Bibliography

Index