¶ … Terminology
The primary concept discussed in this particular scenario regarding Elizabeth and what has come to be her sexual frustration is an inability to orgasm. Within women, such an inability to do so is oftentimes referred to as frigidity. However, it is important to note that Elizabeth is able to achieve orgasm via masturbation, which involves clitoral stimulation. Therefore, the degree of frigidity she experiences is not of the primary variety, but of the secondary variety in which a woman has achieved orgasm before -- typically through clitoral stimulation -- yet has a persistence of being unable to achieve orgasm through conventional coitus.
Among psychological theorists on this subject that include the likes of Freud, Masters and Johnson, and Kinsey, the psychologist whose work is most associated with this phenomenon is Freud. He posited the notion that there was a relatively simple explanation for women such as Elizabeth...
The philosopher believed that this phenomenon was due to stages of development in a woman's physiology. Freud advanced the idea that younger women are readily able to achieve sexual gratification (and orgasm) through their clitorises. During their process of physically and emotionally maturing, however, their erogenous zone transfers from the clitoris to their vagina, which allows them to experience sexual gratification in this latter area. Women who were not able to achieve orgasm via this means were considered immature and not having reached the full completion of physiological womanhood from a sexual perspective. Such a theory explains why Elizabeth would be able to achieve orgasm during masturbation, yet not through conventional vaginal intercourse with a partner.
However, this developmental notion of Freud's was widely discredited in the years since…
