Masculine aspirations are frequently expressed by women patients during the course of a dynamic psychotherapy. The interpretation placed upon these aspirations by the therapist can be of vital importance to the ultimate outcome of the therapy. The purpose of this chapter is to subject the wish to be a man to an adaptational analysis and to demonstrate the adaptational psychodynamics that lie behind that wish. The chapter will provide a limited but cohesive theoretical framework within which any adaptational variant of the wish can be fitted, understood, and treated.

The term adaptation refers to the behavioral maneuvers by means of which the person adapts to his social environment as he seeks to insure his survival and gratify his needs. An adaptational analysis of masculine aspirations in women, therefore, must begin with an examination of the social realities to which women in American society must adapt. The emancipation of women that began with the industrial revolution has been especially rapid in America since the turn of the century. The social position of women has been in a continuous state of change, and the society has not always been able to supply specific social directives for "masculine" or "feminine" behavior. Nevertheless, as of today, the society is still a male oriented society in which the position of women is devalued. The social order is so arranged that status accrues to men solely by virtue of the fact that they are men. The polarities of masculinity and feminity are identified respectively with positive and negative value judgments. Masculinity represents strength, dominance, superiority; femininity represents weakness, submissiveness, inferiority. The former is equated with success; the latter with failure. It is true that these values are cultural stereotypes that express primarily the historical prejudices of the men in the culture. However, it would be safe to say that men and women alike make use of them in appraising each other's behavior. (see MASCULINE ASPIRATIONS IN WOMEN AN ADAPTATIONAL ANALYSIS PART II)