In praise of inadequacy

The Jungian conception of the other, called the anima for a man and animus for a woman, emphasizes a form of inadequacy in the relationship. How, and to what degree, can we associate this term “inadequacy” with Jungian concepts of the other? Starting from Jung’s question on the psychological becoming of the “elements” of the opposite gender, and considering the clinical data, the author discusses the value of inadequacy in couple relationships in which the awareness of hybrid projections is a source of transformation for both.