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3. 'The Unconscious Is Politically Incorrect, and Sexuality Fundamentally Harassing'

Psychoanalysis unveils the politically incorrect unconscious and harassing sexuality that lie dormant within us. From Freud to Lacan, Catherine Millet to Artemisia Gentileschi, a subversive dive into the most obscure and transgressive impulses of the human psyche.

"The unconscious is politically incorrect, and sexuality fundamentally harassing."

This quote by psychoanalyst Jacques André reminds us how psychoanalysis remains a subversive discipline, shedding light on the darkest and most disturbing foundations of the human psyche. Far from complacency or moralizing, it confronts us with the radical otherness of the unconscious and the wild dimension of sexuality to better understand their mechanisms and implications.

By asserting that "the unconscious is politically incorrect," Jacques André highlights the fundamental opposition between the logic of the unconscious and contemporary social norms, particularly those stemming from the "politically correct" movement. While this movement aims to create language and behaviors aligned with decorum, the unconscious proves impervious to such regulation and control, maintaining its own logic of desire that often clashes with social conventions and contemporary ideals.

Similarly, by describing sexuality as "fundamentally harassing," Jacques André emphasizes the instinctual and potentially invasive nature of human sexuality, manifesting from childhood and persisting throughout life. This "harassing" dimension opposes the idea of a "natural" sexuality, instead revealing the most transgressive and profoundly inappropriate aspects of human desire. Sexuality, as a fundamental force of the unconscious, remains perpetually in tension with social and cultural constraints.

Returning briefly to the foundations of psychoanalytic theory: the unconscious is an immaterial psychic instance that eludes the ego and its adaptation to reality. Unlike the ego, the unconscious is governed solely by the pleasure principle, with energy flowing within it in pursuit of immediate instinctual satisfaction. It ignores the constraints of rational thought. Because it is structured like a language, it is fundamentally marked by otherness, absence and lack, making it resistant to any attempt at normalization or social regulation. Dreams, slips of the tongue, failed acts and other symptoms are manifestations of these unconscious desires that escape conscious control. Such expressions show how repressed desires constantly seek to emerge, often in socially inappropriate or incorrect ways. A dream, for instance, might reveal a morally unacceptable sexual or violent desire.

The politically correct movement, which emerged in the 1980s in the United States, aims to promote language and behavior that respect differences, notably by avoiding discriminatory expressions regarding ethnic, sexual or religious minorities. It represents a form of self-censorship and internalization of acceptable social norms, striving to create a more inclusive public space.

However, the unconscious is fundamentally impervious to these attempts at social regulation. Even among the most progressive individuals committed to fighting discrimination, the unconscious maintains its own logic of desire, often conflicting with democratic and egalitarian ideals. As Jacques André aptly states, "the unconscious of the most democratic man ignores parity, the unconscious of the most feminist woman ignores equality."

This opposition between the unconscious and political correctness is not merely formal but profoundly political. While political correctness seeks to transform social relationships through control of language and behavior, the unconscious resists all attempts at normalization or moralization of instincts. This resistance reveals the fundamental limits of social transformation projects that fail to account for the unconscious dimension of human psychology.

The second aspect of Jacques André's quote concerns the "fundamentally harassing" nature of human sexuality. It is now widely understood that human sexuality is not limited to adult reproduction but manifests from the earliest stages of infantile psychic development, notably in a prominent polymorphous form. For instance, children under the age of four undergo a normal phase of "polymorphous perversity," demonstrating that sexuality is fundamentally transgressive and thoroughly inappropriate. This early sexuality, as Jacques André emphasizes, "speaks out of place" and where it should not. This harassing dimension persists throughout life, particularly during the instinctual upheavals of puberty and adolescence. Puberty reactivates sexual instincts intensely, potentially leading to impulsive behaviors, hypersexuality or risky conduct. Adolescence thus emerges as a turbulent period where sexuality can become invasive and even destructive.

In our era, contemporary sexuality is characterized by a certain liberalization of morals and an increase in sexual experiences. This freedom is sometimes labeled "limitless sexuality." Yet, it can veer into forms of addiction or compulsion, where the pursuit of satisfaction becomes increasingly intense but never truly fulfilled. The "harassing" nature of sexuality manifests in ritualized and obsessive behaviors that escape conscious control, revealing the persistence of unconscious instinctual logic.

Romantic passion illustrates the "harassing" nature of human sexuality paradigmatically. It operates through a regressive dynamic that reactivates early stages of psychosexual development, notably the oral and narcissistic stages. In adults, it provokes a genuine psychic regression that awakens childhood-originating affects, such as the need for fusion, fear of abandonment or desire for incorporation. This regression manifests as emotional dependency akin to that of a child towards their parents, potentially leading to behaviors of control, surveillance or clinginess.

In its most pathological form, romantic passion can evolve into a harassing fusion, where the other is invested as a partial object meant to fill all voids and meet every need. This obsessive passion ultimately unveils an original emotional trauma, linked to early narcissistic deficiencies or poorly resolved separation experiences.

In literature, Catherine Millet's The Sexual Life of Catherine M., published in 2001, perhaps best exemplifies the transgressive dimension of sexuality. This autobiographical narrative recounts, with bluntness and clinical precision, the author’s varied and multiple sexual experiences, from adolescence to adulthood. It portrays a compulsive and repetitive sexuality marked by an excessive number of partners and a constant search for new experiences. This obsessive sexuality serves as a means of compensating for a fundamental narcissistic lack, through an incessant quest for recognition and self-affirmation.

However, the narrative also exposes the paradoxes and contradictions of this "liberated" sexuality. The narrator occasionally expresses hatred towards her partners, deprioritizes her own pleasure and seeks holistic recognition through acts that reduce her to a mere body. This ambivalence underscores the fundamentally unsatisfying and illusory nature of compulsive sexuality. Catherine Millet's cold and detached writing style paradoxically reinforces the impression of a mechanical and unfeeling sexuality, never truly attaining satisfaction.

In painting, Artemisia Gentileschi's Susanna and the Elders, painted around 1610 at the age of 17, vividly portrays the violent and irrepressible dimension of sexuality. This work depicts a recurring biblical episode where chaste Susanna is caught bathing by two lecherous elders attempting to coerce her into sexual relations.

This painting is especially significant as it reflects a painful autobiographical experience. The artist herself was a victim of rape in her youth, a traumatic experience she transcribed into several of her works, often featuring themes of violence and cruelty. In Susanna and the Elders, she portrays a frightened and violated woman attempting to shield herself from the assault of two men whose sexual desire turns into a dominating force, indifferent to her vulnerability.

The power of this work lies in its uncompromising pictorial treatment, which highlights the raw violence of male desire and the victim's fragility. The bodies are depicted with raw realism, emphasizing the carnal and predatory nature of the scene. The use of stark contrasts heightens the impression of oppression and threat looming over the terrified and defenseless Susanna.