In this classic work, a noted Jungian analyst explores the division of the human psyche into masculine and feminine. Characteristic of feminine consciousness, she writes, is diffuse awareness, which recognizes the unity of all life and promotes acceptance and relationship. The masculine attitude is one of focused consciousness, the capacity to formulate ideas and to change, invent, and create. Concerned with the experience of women in a culture dominated by masculine values, the author discusses topics such as the animus (the masculine "soul image" in a woman's unconscious); women's roles in relation to work, friends, children, and lovers; and issues such as abortion, aging, and self-determination.

Irene Claremont de Castillejo was a Jungian analyst who studied feminine psychology with Emma Jung and Toni Wolff in Zurich.