Karen Horney's The Distrust Between the Sexes

734 Words2 Pages

Karen Horney's "The Distrust Between the Sexes"

In Karen Horney's "The Distrust Between the Sexes," she attempts to explain the problems in the relationships between men and women. She writes that to understand the problem you must first understand that problems stem from a common background. A large amount of suspiciousness is due to people's intensity of emotions.

Early in Horney's essay, she defines passion and discusses why it is rare. People do not feel safe putting all of their faith and trust in only one other person. Horney explains that self-preservation is part of human instinct, and people have a fear of losing themselves in their loved one.

Next, Horney explains how people often overlook their own impulses. The pressure from their conscience causes them to project these impulses onto their partners. Projection results in distrust of their partner's emotions toward them.

As Horney moves on, she accounts for an almost unavoidable source of disappointment in our love life. It derives from intense feelings of love stirring up secret hopes for contentment. Intim...

Open Document