THE HAPPY HOME MYTH: THE FEMALE EXPERIENCE

摘要

In the discussion of the happy home myth, I have advanced the position that the creation of a happy home myth is, for both men and women, an effort to reverse the damaging experience of unresponsiveness in the persons primary selfobject environment. It is an attempt at self-restoration aiming to undo the critical childhood experience of needing someone to be there for one, and finding that one actually was alone (Russell, unpublished paper). Such an attempt at self-restoration unavoidably has both structuring potential and serious drawbacks. The structuring potential lies in the fact that the concrete dimension of enacting the myth necessarily activates and engages the person's actual and potential practical competencies. The everyday-world achievements that the person accrues in the process support and validate the person's self-esteem and consolidate his self-structure. The most serious drawbacks lie in two areas: the area of authentic relatedness, and the area of verification of subjective experience.