The appearance of the feminine erotic at puberty is what breaks in at adolescence, for the girl and for the boy.
The adolescent boy or girl must tear him- or herself away from maternal seduction and control which tend towards non-differentiation, within a new work of access to differentiation of the male and female sexes, which may be called “ work of the feminine ” and which leads to the erotic and romantic encounter.
Paternal seduction acts as an after effect, reorganizing the early maternal seduction. It has the two characteristics of being breaking, in the sense of rupture, sometimes traumatic, but also nurturing, in the sense of re-structuring. It is therefore initiatory and begins the change of object. Between the two a difficult operation of appropriating the body and sexuality can take place, by way of drive self-seduction. The therapist’s function as “ double ” enables this to be elaborated