Specular stage is the period in which pubers, feeling a bit more at ease with eroticism in their own bodies, start to explore sexual energy in akin bodies. It is a time marked by the intimacy that comes from sharing erotic discoveries in similar bodies (of the same sex). This is reason why Dias calls it homosexual phase[1]. I’ll refer it as specular stage because of the weight of the term homosexual as a reference to homosexual orientation (mistake I’d rather avoid). It is also a period of confidences, secrets, and great idealization. The most important character of this stage is the great friend, who “embodies” eroticized masculine traits (in boys’ case) and eroticized feminine traits (in girls’ case) they aspire (to become). If people are blocked at this stage, they don’t conclude the idealized identity of the same sex. Rather, if father’s masculine existing model (in boys’ cases) and mother’s feminine existing model (in girls’ cases) are blocked, the fusion with new reference identities does not happen and feminine idealized sexual identity, in girls, and masculine idealized sexual identity, in boys, are not structured. In other words, if fusion doesn’t happen, new eroticized models are not well incorporated and girls lack internalized reference of how to feel and behave as a women would in highly eroticized situations, as well as boys lack internalized reference of how to feel and behave as men would in highly eroticized situations. They get emotionally stuck in the “great’s friend” stage. In other words, in highly eroticized and desired situations, women “turn into girls” and men “turn into boys” once again (don’t how to feel and behave as eroticized adults). They start to systematically avoid (unconsciously) highly eroticized and desired situations with the opposite sex/energy. And do people with homosexual orientation have blocks in specular stage? How does it happen? Yes, they do, and they happen the same way. Nevertheless, in cases of highly eroticized and desired situations with people they feel attracted by, blocks are in being in tune with feminine drive (receiving/passive energy), in women, and in being in tune with masculine drive (active energy), in men’s cases. It is worth noting that energies are not the same as roles. In homosexual orientation cases, phobic behaviors triggered by eroticized situations may also be signs of sexual identity blocks. It theses cases, people don’t have well internalized how (what) it is like to feel(be) in a man’s eroticized body in tune with masculine energy- action, penetration, and combativeness in life)-in men’s cases; and what (how) it is like to feel(be) in women’s eroticized body in tune with feminine energy- acceptance, getting in touch with their intuition, sensibility)[2]. These are, therefore, very anxious situations.
To be continued in the next Post
[1] To more details see Dias in Post 5-Specular stage: intimacy with specular bodies and Post 6- Specular stage: blocks at this stage, in essay: Sexual Identity Development blocks, in: www.ceciliapsicologa.org [2] To more details see Dias in Post 9- Homosexual Phase versus Homosexual Orientation-Structural blocks versus Functional blocks, in essay: Sexual Identity Development blocks, in: www.ceciliapsicologa.org
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