The Problems of Women Married to Homosexual Men
MYRA S. HATTERER M.D.1
1 Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Assistant Attending Physician, New York State Psychiatric Institute
In treating the married male homosexual who wishes to change his sexual orientation, it is essential to understand both the personality of the wife and the dynamics of the marriage. Findings based on the study of five women and their husbands who were in individual and conjoint therapy and single interviews of 12 other women married to homosexual men in therapy revealed that the women felt inadequate in many areas of their gender and erotic identifications; they demonstrated sexual repression, passive-agressive personality traits, and retarded psychosexual and social development. The author shows how the wife's need to maintain the neurotic contract of the marriage undermines her husband's treatment. The observations are illustrated three case histories.
