Diary of a Gay Bride is a memoir about an artist planning her multi-cultural gay wedding in hopes her dying mother will be able to attend.

Os Transtornos Alimentares (TAs) são considerados quadros psicossomáticos, nos quais são observadas graves alterações no comportamento alimentar. O aumento da prevalência e os prejuízos vivenciados pelos indivíduos portadores de TAs fazem com que essas psicopatologias recebam a crescente atenção do meio científico. Há evidências de que aspectos da dinâmica familiar influenciam o surgimento e o curso do transtorno. As novas formações familiares e a inserção da mulher no mercado de trabalho cobram uma maior participação masculina no cuidado dos filhos. Winnicott defende que, a cada etapa do desenvolvimento emocional, o pai tem um papel importante para o amadurecimento da criança. Os estudos mostram que o pai de mulheres com TAs não conseguem se mostrar presentes no desenvolvimento psicoafetivo das filhas. Considerando a escassez de estudos sobre a figura paterna, o presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar os psicodinamismos envolvidos na relação pai-filha no contexto dos TAs. Trata-se de um estudo clínico-qualitativo, fundamentado teoricamente na psicanálise, especificamente, na teoria winnicottiana. Participaram da pesquisa seis mulheres com diagnóstico de TAs e seus respectivos pais (progenitores do sexo masculino). Com cada participante foi realizada entrevista semiestruturada e aplicação do Procedimento de Desenhos de Família com Estórias (DF-E). As verbalizações foram audiogravadas mediante consentimento dos participantes. O material obtido com o DF-E foi analisado por meio do método de livre inspeção. Os resultados encontrados na entrevista semiestruturada e no DF-E foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo temática. Os dados analisados indicaram uma relação pai-filha marcada pela pouca permissividade a demonstrações afetivas. Foram encontradas figuras paternas que, enquanto filhos, enfrentaram a ausência do pai ou pais extremamente autoritários, assim como o convívio com figuras maternas pouco disponíveis para trocas afetivas. Cuidados dentro de um ambiente com dificuldades em satisfazer suas necessidades afetivas, os pais, a fim de evitar o acesso às angústias suscitadas pela insatisfação, afastavam-se defensivamente das emoções. Concomitante à presença de pais distantes afetivamente, as filhas buscavam continência e aceitação de seus pais. Elas percebiam a preocupação e o cuidado por parte deles, entretanto, mostravam-se insatisfeitas. Pode-se inferir que, na falta de um ambiente que lhes apoiasse na integração de suas vivências, elas utilizavam o corpo como instrumento de comunicação da fome que sentiam de continência parental. Os achados deste estudo apontam para a relevância do envolvimento paterno na manifestação sintomática das filhas. Dessa forma, a inclusão do pai no tratamento das filhas pode possibilitar melhores possibilidades de integração das vivências emocionais da díade. / Eating Disorders (EDs) are considered psychosomatic conditions, characterized by severe alterations in eating behavior. The increasing prevalence and harms experienced by individuals with EDs make these psychopathologies receive growing attention from the scientific community. There are evidences that aspects of family dynamics influence the onset and course of the disorder. The new family configurations and the inclusion of women in the labor market demand a greater male participation in child care. Winnicott argues that, at each stage of emotional development, the father has an important role in the emotional maturation of the child. Studies show that fathers of women with EDs are not able to have a significant presence during the psycho-affective development of their daughters. In view of the lack of studies on the father figure, the objective in this study was to investigate the psychodynamics involved in the father-daughter relationship in the context of EDs. It is a clinical-qualitative research with a psychoanalytic approach, specifically Winnicott\'s theory. Six women diagnosed with EDs and their fathers participated. A semi-structured interview was held with each participant and the Procedure of Family Drawings with Stories (DF-E) was performed. Verbalizations were audio recorded with the participants\' consent. The material obtained with the DF-E was analyzed by means of the free inspection method. The findings from the semi-structured interviews and DF-E were subject to thematic content analysis. The data indicated a father-daughter relationship marked by low permissiveness of affective manifestations. The results show that the fathers, during childhood, faced absent or authoritarian father figures, as well as mother figures not available for emotional exchanges. Educated within an environment struggling to meet their emotional needs, in order to avoid access to the anguish aroused by affective dissatisfaction, the parents defensively avoided their emotions. Together with the presence of emotionally distant fathers, daughters sought their continence and acceptance. Daugthers perceived the concern and care of their fathers, but showed they were dissatisfied. It can be inferred that, in the absence of an environment that would support the daughters in integrating their experiences, they used the body as a tool to express the lack of parental affection. These study findings highlighted the relevance of paternal involvement in the symptomatic manifestation of their daughters. Thus, the inclusion of fathers in the daughters\' treatment may provide better opportunities to integrate the emotional experiences of both.

Cette recherche doctorale est dans la continuité de nos précédents travaux. Après avoir étudié l’investissement de l’enfant à naître suite à une conception médicalisée, dans un contexte d’infertilité féminine, nous nous sommes intéressées au passage du conjugal au parental, au risque d’une « parentalité médicalement assistée ». Les résultats de ses deux premières recherches ont montré l’impact du diagnostic d’infertilité féminine, et de sa prise en charge, sur la psyché des femmes, sur la conjugalité et sur le devenir parent. Pour cette thèse nous avons souhaité changer notre regard afin de le porter sur les enfants nés de mère infertiles, en questionnant leur construction subjective au regard d’un tel contexte. Nous avons fait le choix de penser, plus particulièrement le devenir des jeunes femmes nées de mères infertiles, à travers la question de la spécificité du lien mère/fille au sein des processus de subjectivation et de la transmission d’un féminin maternel blessé par un diagnostic d’infertilité. L’appropriation subjective de l’histoire conceptionnelle étant alors au centre de cette recherche nous avons élaboré une méthodologie de type qualitative à partir du récit conceptionnel que nous avons souhaité mettre à l’épreuve dans ce contexte. Le peu de travaux concernant les enfants « nés de » nous ont amenés à conduire une recherche exploratoire s’inscrivant au sein du paradigme subjectiviste, dans un cadre d’orientation psychanalytique. Nous questionnons ainsi l’impact de l’histoire conceptionnelle sur les processus de subjectivation, la construction identitaire, et la narrativité des jeunes femmes nées de mère infertile. Si les résultats montrent que nous ne pouvons nier l’impact de l’histoire conceptionnelle sur la construction du sujet, ils ont révélé aussi que nous ne pouvions faire l’économie de penser l’influence du vécu maternel de cette histoire et du discours –ou du silence- qui l’entoure. / This doctoral research is in the continuity of our previous ones. After having studied the investment of the unborn child following a medically assisted procreation, we were interested in the becoming parents in this context. Results have shown how the women psyche, the couple and the becoming parents are impacted by the diagnosis of infertility and then its medical care. The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to focus on the child born of infertile mother, questioning their identity construction. We decided to study, particularly, the young women born of infertile mothers across the specific mother/daughter relationship and the feminine transmission injured by the infertility. The psychical working through of the conceptional story is at the center of this research. The sparsely amount of studies, regarding children born of infertile mother, led us to conduct an explorative research on this specific topic. So we elaborated, in a psychoanalytical framework a qualitative methodology based on the conceptional narrative approach, in order to test it in this context. Thus, we questioned the impact of the conceptional story upon the process of subjectivization, the identity construction, and the narrativity. If the results show that we cannot deny the impact of conceptional story on individual construction, they also reveal that we have to take in consideration the subjective maternal experience of the infertility and its medical care, more to the point the story she tells, or not, about it.

Os Transtornos Alimentares (TAs) são considerados quadros psicossomáticos, nos quais são observadas graves alterações no comportamento alimentar. O aumento da prevalência e os prejuízos vivenciados pelos indivíduos portadores de TAs fazem com que essas psicopatologias recebam a crescente atenção do meio científico. Há evidências de que aspectos da dinâmica familiar influenciam o surgimento e o curso do transtorno. As novas formações familiares e a inserção da mulher no mercado de trabalho cobram uma maior participação masculina no cuidado dos filhos. Winnicott defende que, a cada etapa do desenvolvimento emocional, o pai tem um papel importante para o amadurecimento da criança. Os estudos mostram que o pai de mulheres com TAs não conseguem se mostrar presentes no desenvolvimento psicoafetivo das filhas. Considerando a escassez de estudos sobre a figura paterna, o presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar os psicodinamismos envolvidos na relação pai-filha no contexto dos TAs. Trata-se de um estudo clínico-qualitativo, fundamentado teoricamente na psicanálise, especificamente, na teoria winnicottiana. Participaram da pesquisa seis mulheres com diagnóstico de TAs e seus respectivos pais (progenitores do sexo masculino). Com cada participante foi realizada entrevista semiestruturada e aplicação do Procedimento de Desenhos de Família com Estórias (DF-E). As verbalizações foram audiogravadas mediante consentimento dos participantes. O material obtido com o DF-E foi analisado por meio do método de livre inspeção. Os resultados encontrados na entrevista semiestruturada e no DF-E foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo temática. Os dados analisados indicaram uma relação pai-filha marcada pela pouca permissividade a demonstrações afetivas. Foram encontradas figuras paternas que, enquanto filhos, enfrentaram a ausência do pai ou pais extremamente autoritários, assim como o convívio com figuras maternas pouco disponíveis para trocas afetivas. Cuidados dentro de um ambiente com dificuldades em satisfazer suas necessidades afetivas, os pais, a fim de evitar o acesso às angústias suscitadas pela insatisfação, afastavam-se defensivamente das emoções. Concomitante à presença de pais distantes afetivamente, as filhas buscavam continência e aceitação de seus pais. Elas percebiam a preocupação e o cuidado por parte deles, entretanto, mostravam-se insatisfeitas. Pode-se inferir que, na falta de um ambiente que lhes apoiasse na integração de suas vivências, elas utilizavam o corpo como instrumento de comunicação da fome que sentiam de continência parental. Os achados deste estudo apontam para a relevância do envolvimento paterno na manifestação sintomática das filhas. Dessa forma, a inclusão do pai no tratamento das filhas pode possibilitar melhores possibilidades de integração das vivências emocionais da díade. / Eating Disorders (EDs) are considered psychosomatic conditions, characterized by severe alterations in eating behavior. The increasing prevalence and harms experienced by individuals with EDs make these psychopathologies receive growing attention from the scientific community. There are evidences that aspects of family dynamics influence the onset and course of the disorder. The new family configurations and the inclusion of women in the labor market demand a greater male participation in child care. Winnicott argues that, at each stage of emotional development, the father has an important role in the emotional maturation of the child. Studies show that fathers of women with EDs are not able to have a significant presence during the psycho-affective development of their daughters. In view of the lack of studies on the father figure, the objective in this study was to investigate the psychodynamics involved in the father-daughter relationship in the context of EDs. It is a clinical-qualitative research with a psychoanalytic approach, specifically Winnicott\'s theory. Six women diagnosed with EDs and their fathers participated. A semi-structured interview was held with each participant and the Procedure of Family Drawings with Stories (DF-E) was performed. Verbalizations were audio recorded with the participants\' consent. The material obtained with the DF-E was analyzed by means of the free inspection method. The findings from the semi-structured interviews and DF-E were subject to thematic content analysis. The data indicated a father-daughter relationship marked by low permissiveness of affective manifestations. The results show that the fathers, during childhood, faced absent or authoritarian father figures, as well as mother figures not available for emotional exchanges. Educated within an environment struggling to meet their emotional needs, in order to avoid access to the anguish aroused by affective dissatisfaction, the parents defensively avoided their emotions. Together with the presence of emotionally distant fathers, daughters sought their continence and acceptance. Daugthers perceived the concern and care of their fathers, but showed they were dissatisfied. It can be inferred that, in the absence of an environment that would support the daughters in integrating their experiences, they used the body as a tool to express the lack of parental affection. These study findings highlighted the relevance of paternal involvement in the symptomatic manifestation of their daughters. Thus, the inclusion of fathers in the daughters\' treatment may provide better opportunities to integrate the emotional experiences of both.

Review of Daly, Jackie with Tom Carter. Tammy Wynette: A Daughter Recalls Her Mother’s Tragic Life and Death. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000.

All of the protagonists in this collection of stories are starving. The world around them buzzes with the electric hum of modern society, a siren song that tempts these girls and women with the promise of love, opportunity, affluence, and dreams. Instead, they find themselves lost somehow, left behind, victims of circumstance, confused by dysfunctional families, and romanced by the media. They no longer know themselves, and stumble in their quest for happiness. They are lured into competitions with imaginary adversaries, and sometimes lose. The less control they have in their own lives, the more desperate they become, often going to great lengths to satisfy their hunger for love, acceptance, and security. A little girl wants nothing more than a normal, loving family in "Raylene," and when she tires of dreaming her life were different, she decides to do something about it. The protagonist of "The Broken Lamp" is plagued by the desire to be free of her financial concerns, and loses herself in this desire to the point that her marriage is threatened. The pursuit of love, in "Management Material," leads a movie theater employee to find happiness, although not in the way she expected. Old friends attempt to rekindle their connection in "Common Ground," desperate to regain the closeness of their adolescence. "Daughter of the Moon" features a woman with a family secret that she has kept since childhood, a secret that she now must dig up if she ever wants to move forward. And, in "Falling," a woman longing for acceptance devises an unconventional plan to win the adoration that she has always yearned for. The characters in these stories occupy the same psychic state. They are wounded, fragile, idealistic, and painfully self-conscious. Disillusionment with an impervious world serves only to resurrect repressed feelings, leaving the characters with a cognitive dissonance that they work tirelessly, if aimlessly and foolishly, to reconcile. Unable to satiate themselves, they cannot avoid feeding the darkest dreams that always lurk in the shadowy corners of consciousness.

A father's abandonment of his minor daughter can leave an indelible impression on her psyche -- one that can forever affect her intimate romantic relationships. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore where women who were abandoned by their fathers prior to the age of 18 are today as adults in terms of their intimate romantic relationships and how they develop and engage in these relationships. The research questions examined how a daughter being abandoned by her father prior to the age of 18 relates to where she is today in her adult intimate romantic relationships and what meanings participants attach to relationships and relationship satisfaction as a result of their childhood experiences. Theories of social constructionism and psychosocial development grounded the study. After a review of the literature, data were collected through screening questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample of 8 women. Each interview was transcribed and the data examined for themes. Key findings indicated that the effect of a daughter being abandoned by her father prior to the age of 18 affects her adult intimate romantic relationships. Results also indicated the psychosocial stage at which she was abandoned affected how she viewed men in her adult relationships as it effects whether she builds trust or mistrust, autonomy or shame and doubt, initiative or guilt, industry or inferiority, identity or role confusion. When the stage is not met, the basic virtue of each stage (hope, will, purpose, competency, fidelity) may be lacking or lost. Positive social change is implicated through this collection of qualitative data that can inform practitioners and researchers, foster therapeutic treatment, and help shed light on and ameliorate the effects of the phenomenon of paternal abandonment of daughters prior to the age of 18.

A memoir that focuses on the complications of growing as the only daughter of a mother from Okinawa and a father from the United States. They met at a nightclub, where her mother worked as a waitress, outside an Army base, where her father was stationed during U.S. Military occupation of the island. These marriages between Okinawan women and U.S. Servicemen have been quite common since 1945, after the Battle of Okinawa, when a massive complex of bases was first established. Okinawan women must leave their homes and their families to follow their husbands to the United States, where they are faced with challenges of racism, language barriers and isolation. Their children often grow up rejecting and resenting their Okinawan identities, causing further alienation.

The problem that this study focused on was the difficulties and challenges experienced by daughters who had absent fathers. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of daughters who grew up with absent fathers, and the effects on them as adults at home, in school, in their neighborhoods, and in their decision-making processes. The sample consisted of 20 daughters who grew up with absent fathers. Data were collected using face-to-face semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using 5 phases of Hycner's (1999) phenomenological research. Results indicated that participants' lived experiences of home life were characterized by financial and emotional hardships resulting from the loss of a father's earnings and care. The meanings or lessons that participants derived from having absent fathers included the importance of being independent, of appreciating the people who remained with them, and of making a better life for their own children, either by choosing a mate who would be a committed father or by helping their children to come to terms with the man's absence. Participants reported that the absence of their fathers shaped their decision-making patterns in romantic relationships, either by normalizing exploitative behavior in men (e.g., deception, abuse, or abandonment), or by predisposing them to distrust men. Participants were also affected in their decision-making patterns by the loss of a male perspective and a father's guidance. These results are of significance because by gaining understanding of the experiences of daughters with absent fathers, healthcare professionals may provide appropriate assistance to help these women cope better with their difficulties and struggles.

This study tested a mediation model by which daughters ' perceptions of poorer parent-adolescent relationship quality were expected to be directly associated with the individual psychological characteristics of low self-esteem and internalizing symptoms. In turn, individual psychological characteristics were hypothesized to predict self-defeating behavior, defined as deliberate self-harm and suicidal gestures, multiple sexual partners, and substance use. Additionally, the association between parent-adolescent relationship variables and self-defeating behaviors was posited to be largely indirect and mediated by symptoms of psychological distress . As predicted, perceived alienation from parents was directly associated with poor adolescent psychological functioning. Furthermore , individual psychological variables were found to partially mediate between parent alienation and deliberate self-harm /suicidal gestures. Full mediation was observed between mother alienation and risky sexual behaviors but not for fathers. No mediation effects were found between both mother and father alienation and daughters' reported substance use. Research and clinical implications are also discussed.