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Feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...
have long struggled with
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
's classical model of gender and identity development, which centers on the
Oedipus complex The Oedipus complex (also spelled Œdipus complex) is an idea in psychoanalytic theory. The complex is an ostensibly universal phase in the life of a young boy in which, to try to immediately satisfy basic desires, he unconsciously wishes to have ...
. Freud's model, which became integral to orthodox
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
, suggests that because women lack the visible genitals of the male, they feel they are "missing" the most central characteristic necessary for gaining
narcissistic Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...
value—therefore developing feelings of
gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...
and
penis envy Penis envy (german: Penisneid) is a stage theorized by Sigmund Freud regarding female psychosexual development, in which young girls experience anxiety upon realization that they do not have a penis. Freud considered this realization a defining m ...
. In his late theory on the feminine, Freud recognized the early and long lasting libidinal attachment of the daughter to the mother during the pre-oedipal stages. Feminist psychoanalysts have confronted these ideas (particularly the female relationship to the real, imaginary and symbolic
phallus A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precisel ...
) and reached different conclusions. Some generally agree with Freud's major outlines, modifying it through observations of the pre-Oedipal phase. Others reformulate Freud's theories more completely.


Hélène Deutsch

Hélène Deutsch (1884–1982) was one of Freud's first female pupils and the first analyst who made an integral, chronological study of woman's psychological development. In short, Deutsch claims that women have a passive-masochistic sexuality, they are born for reproduction and their development must be seen as different from the development of men. Deutsch sees the female development as exceedingly difficult and tortuous, because at some point she must transfer her primary sexual object choice from her mother to her father (and males), if she is to attain her expected heterosexual adulthood. According to Deutsch, the girl blames her father, not her mother, for the lack of a penis; thus, she stops identifying with her father and masculinity. Because of this relationship with her father, she develops
libidinous Libido (; colloquial: sex drive) is a person's overall sexual drive or desire for sexual activity. Libido is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. Biologically, the sex hormones and associated neurotransmitters that act upo ...
fantasies of being raped. Thus, the rape fantasy is universal and non-pathological, a key part of female sexuality. Meanwhile, the girl identifies herself with her mother through the wish for an " anal child". When she recognizes her failure, a decline to the pre-genital stage takes place: a wish for the earlier active (
phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precisely ...
) clitoris. Masochistic tensions in the girl prevail and she longs to be castrated by her father. The desire for a child also becomes masochistic.


Melanie Klein

Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (née Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Klein suggested tha ...
, originator of the Kleinian school of psychoanalysis, agreed with the basic structure of the Oedipal situation, but argued that it originated at 6 months of life while subsequently continuing to be worked through during the time that Freud had previously articulated. She identified the recognition of triangular relationships as originating during this time with the start of the infant's burgeoning awareness of the mother's relationships with others.


Nancy Chodorow

Nancy Chodorow Nancy Julia Chodorow (born January 20, 1944) is an American sociologist and professor. She began her career as a professor of Women's studies at Wellesley College in 1973, and from 1974 on taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, unti ...
noted that Freud believed that males possess physical superiority and that a woman's personality is inevitably determined by her lack of a penis. Like Freud, but for different reasons, Chodorow emphasizes that the female Oedipal crisis is not resolved completely, unlike the male crisis: a girl cannot and does not completely reject her mother in favour of men, but continues her relationship of
attachment Attachment may refer to: Entertainment * ''Attachments'' (novel), a 2011 novel by Rainbow Rowell * ''Attachments'' (TV series), a BBC comedy-drama that ran from 2000 to 2002 Law * Attachment (law), a means of collecting a legal judgment by lev ...
to her. The strength and quality of her relationship with her father are completely dependent upon the strength and quality of her relationship with her mother. Chodorow claims that most women are genitally heterosexual, but they have other, equally deep relationships with their children and with other women, as a result of the primary relationship with the mother. Thus, a girl represses neither her pre-Oedipal nor her Oedipal attachment to her mother nor her Oedipal attachment to her father. This means that she grows up with more ongoing preoccupation with internalized object relationships and with external relationships. Because a girl does not have to repress her pre-Oedipal and Oedipal attachment to father and mother, she reaches a more relational sensibility than boys. Chodorow illustrated this through studies suggesting that men love (and fall in love) romantically, where women love and fall in love sensibly and rationally.


Luce Irigaray

In
Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in ...
's model there is no place for
femininity Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...
unless it is related to
masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors con ...
.
Luce Irigaray Luce Irigaray (born 3 May 1930) is a Belgian-born French feminist, philosopher, linguist, psycholinguist, psychoanalyst, and cultural theorist who examined the uses and misuses of language in relation to women. Irigaray's first and most well know ...
, a student of
Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, , ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, and pu ...
, disagrees with the thoughts about the importance of the penis and phallic for women. She hypothesizes that the reason the penis is privileged in Freud's model is that it is visible. This is also the reason that male sexuality is based, in early Lacanianism, on having (a penis) and
female sexuality Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range of behaviors and processes, including female sexual identity and sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, and spiritual or religious aspects of sexual ac ...
is based on lack. In Freud's paradigm, female desire is the desire for a baby to substitute for penis, thus female pleasure is derived from reproduction. Irigaray disagrees: "How can we accept that the entire female sexuality is being controlled by the lack and envy of the penis?" Female sexuality is not solely related to reproduction, but neither is it less valuable in reproduction, and thus it should not hold less social power. Furthermore, she says that Freud is forgetting the mother-daughter relationship. To enter the Oedipus-complex, a girl must hate her mother. Irigaray says this view makes it impossible for a girl to give meaning to the relationship with her mother.Irigaray, ''Ce sexe qui n'en est pas un'', p. 120.


See also

*
Jessica Benjamin Jessica Benjamin is a psychoanalyst known for her contributions to psychoanalysis and social thought. She is currently a practicing psychoanalyst in New York City where she is on the faculty of the New York University Postdoctoral Psychology Prog ...
*
Dorothy Dinnerstein Dorothy Dinnerstein (April 4, 1923 – December 17, 1992) was an American academic and activist, best known for her 1976 book ''The Mermaid and the Minotaur''. Drawing from elements of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis, particularly as developed by ...
* Francoise Dolto *
Anna Freud Anna Freud (3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian-Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father and contribu ...
*
Karen Horney Karen Horney (; ; 16 September 1885 – 4 December 1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practised in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was particularly true of her theories of ...
*
Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (née Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Klein suggested tha ...
*
Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, bg, Юлия Стоянова Кръстева; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who has ...
*
Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, , ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, and pu ...
*
Juliet Mitchell Juliet Mitchell, Lady Goody (born 4 October 1940) is a British psychoanalyst, socialist feminist, research professor and author. Early life and education Mitchell was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1940, and then moved to England in 19 ...
*
Griselda Pollock Griselda Frances Sinclair Pollock''The International Who's Who of Women''; 3rd ed.; ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 453 (born 11 March 1949) is an art historian and cultural analyst of international, postcolonial feminist stud ...
*
Joan Riviere Joan Hodgson Riviere (28 June 1883 – 20 May 1962) was a British psychoanalyst, who was both an early translator of Freud into English and an influential writer on her own account. Life and career Riviere was born Joan Hodgson Verrall in Bri ...
*
Gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
*
Gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...
*
Feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and feminist ...
*
Judith Van Herik Judith Van Herik (born August 18, 1947) is an academic who studied Psychology and Religion. Van Herik worked at Pennsylvania State University for 24 years, from September 1977 to her retirement in June of 2001, and is most well-known for her publ ...


Notes


References

*Benjamin, J. (1995). ''Like Subject, Love Objects''. Yale University Press. *Bornheimer, C., and C. Kahane (1985). ''In Dora's Case''. London: Virago Press. *Chorodow, N. J. (2001). "Family structure and feminine personality'' In: Juschka, D. M., ''Feminism in the Study of Religion''. London and New York: Continuum. *Chorodow, N. J. (1989). ''Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory''. Cambridge: Polity Press. *Chorodow, N. J. (1978). ''The Reproduction of Mothering''. University of California Press. *Fischer, A., W. Van Hoorn, and J. Jansz (1983). ''Psychoanalyse en vrouwelijke seksualiteit''. Uitgeverij Boom, Meppel en Amsterdam. *Freud, S. (1931). "Female Sexuality". ''The Standard Edition of Sigmund Freud''. London: Hogarth Press, 1961. *Horney, K. (1951). ''Neurosis and Human Growth''. London: Routledge. *Horney, K. (1922–37). ''Feminine Psychology''. New York: Norton. 1967. *Irigaray, L. (1977). ''Ce sexe qui n'en est pas un''. Paris: Editions de Minuit. *Irigaray, L. (1974). ''Speculum of the Other Woman''. 1985. Cornell University Press. *Irigaray, L. (2004). ''Key Writings''. New York: Continuum. *Irigaray, L. (1993). ''Sexes and Genealogies''. Columbia University Press. *Kristeva, J. (1982). ''The Powers of Horror''. Columbia University Press. *Lacan, J. (1973). ''Encore: On Feminine Sexuality''. New York: Norton & Company, 1998. *Mitchell, J., and J. Rose (1982). ''Jacques Lacan and the ecole freudienne, Feminine Sexuality''. New York: Pantheon. *''Parallax'' no. 8. Special issue on Julia Kristeva. Issue no. 8 ol. 4(3) *Paris, B. J. (1994). ''Karen Horney. A psychoanalyst's search for self-understanding''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. *Pollock, G. (2006). "Beyond Oedipus. Feminist Thought, Psychoanalysis, and Mythical Figurations of the Feminine." In: Zajko, V., and M. Leonard (eds), ''Laughing with Medusa''. Oxford University Press. *Riviere, J. "Womanliness as masquerade", ''
International Journal of Psychoanalysis ''The International Journal of Psychoanalysis'' is an academic journal in the field of psychoanalysis. The idea of the journal was proposed by Ernest Jones in a letter to Sigmund Freud dated 7 December 1918. The journal itself was established in 1 ...
'' no. 10, 1929. {{DEFAULTSORT:Feminism And The Oedipus Complex Freudian psychology Feminism and health Feminism and sexuality Feminism and the family Women and psychology History of psychiatry Point of view