ABSTRACT
Two of the most provocative and complex archetypal forms we encounter in Jungian psychology are the gendered images of the soul termed anima and animus. As social norms around gender have begun to change, Jung’s model has been viewed as controversial and his language as sometimes anachronistic and out of step with the modern world. However, his apparently timeless observations continue to resonate with us, and his vision of gender feels in some ways remarkably prescient and one which may be supported by recent neurobiological research. He provides us with the possibility that gender is a fluid and dynamic construct, where the tension between contrasting forms of energy may sometimes be complementary and sometimes conflicting, but whose resolution and integration marks a crucial step in the individuation process. In this chapter we will explore Jung’s conception of gender as a representation of the indefinable ‘other’, which provides the ‘bridge’ to the unconscious and unlocks new ways of thinking about our identity and our place in the world.
