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The effects of the role society has on women
The effects of the role society has on women
Strengths of psychosexual development theory by sigmund freud
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Freud makes a claim for the formation of femininity through his explanation of psychical development during child sexuality. He explains that he does not wish to give an account for who a women is but only how she becomes feminine from her bisexual tendencies. Freud femininity theory raises speculation since develops it within the context of masculinity. He claims a girl’s turning point in her sexuality is when she realizes she has been castrated and develop a penis envy. This raises concerns since it automatically places the male, at least the male organs, at a hierarchal advantage. Nevertheless, Freud’s theory can be justify within a social-psychological perspective, considering a girl is face with disadvantage and inequality from a social perspective which build in her a psychical inferiority which leads her to the conclusion that lacking a penis makes her inferior.
Freud explain the formation of gender through the four stages of psychical development from a child with bisexual dispositions. He claims that boys have a much easier time developing their masculinity than girls have developing their femininity. The difference lies hidden within the extra hurdles girls must overcome during their psychical development. Boys and girls are pretty much the same until the phallic stage, in fact, Freud states that “the little girl is a little man” since she portrays many masculine traits. During the oral and anal stage, both girls and boys derive pleasure from the same things. Even at the beginning of the phallic stage, both the boys and girls derive pleasure from a similar area; the boys from their penis and the girls from their clitoris. According to Freud, this derivation of pleasure from the clitoris is a sing of masculinity placing...
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...e””(114). He explains that this connotation comes forms from the act of sex where, the semen looks out for the ova and also how the male is the one seeking out for the female and penetrating her. Although the metal attributes of gender associations attributes the patriarchy of the masculinity, they do not explain how the little girl automatically identifies the penis as something superior to her clitoris. In fact, Freud argues that Femininity psychological characteristics does not give preference to passive aim. “To achieve a passive aim may call for a large amount of activity” (115). Sometimes, it might be possible that a women passive tendencies from her sexual life carries over to her life. Yet, the sexual behavior is not the only one that might push women to be passive “the influence of social customs, which similarly force women into passive situations” (115).
According to Freud's theory, in the beginning of sexual development of both boys and girls, the mother is the first desired object, seen as almighty and capable ...
Freud’s work has been criticised as being biased towards one gender and the focus of his theories that males are superior as they have a penis and females don’t is biased in favour of males.
Sigmund Freud is an excellent example of male authority taking charge of a subject that he does not understand. Although Freud is largely recognized as a prestigious man of psychoanalysis, he had many outlandish ideas towards women, and he admitted to not understanding the complexities surrounding women. He clung to gender stereotypes and depicted the female as an inferior being, eternally jealous of men (Lax 394). The weak and incapable portrayal of female in Freud’s psychoanalytical theories treated the ability of women ever entering this new study of psychology. Freud’s arrival to America in 1909 began America’s fascination with psychoanalysis. The American Psychoanalytic Association was formed shortly after Freud’s visit and upheld a strict no women policy for fifteen years (McGovern). Freud was kind enough to share psychoanalysis with America, expect he made it a boys’ club with a no girls allowed rule and then decided to share his theories of female hysteria and penis envy (Lax). Sigmund Freud’s visit to America brought dangerous ideas and reinforced women’s role as inferior; however, the women of twentieth century America had had years of experience with controlling men and still found ways to infiltrate the American Psychoanalytic
The oral stage takes place from birth until age 1, which involves the infant’s mouth as the focus of gratification derived from the pleasure of oral exploration of his or her environment and receiving primary nourishment from one’s mother’s breast. In addition to this, the anal phase takes place from age 1 until age 3, which involves the infant’s more erotic zone changing from the mouth to the anus. Finally, the phallic stage takes place from age 3 until age 6, which involves the child’s genitalia becoming his or her primary aphrodisiacal zone. It is in this third infantile development stage that children become aware of their bodies and the bodies of others. They gratify physical curiosity by undressing and exploring each other and their genitals, and so learn the physical and sexual differences between genders. These stages reflect base levels of desire, but they also involve fear of loss and mistreatment. To keep all of this conflict buried in one’s unconscious, Freud argued that one develops defenses: selective perception, selective memory, denial, displacement, projection, regression, fear of intimacy, and fear of death, among
In Western societies women usually hold respectable jobs, the ability to make the choices of having and taking care of the children, cleaning their homes, cooking meals, doing the laundry and, most importantly, are allowed to be seen as an equal in society. In non-western societies women usually hold degrading jobs, deliver and take care of the children, clean their homes, cook meals, do the laundry and are seen as unequal. In Third World countries, women are seen as the poorest of the poor. They are rarely ever given the same opportunities as the women in western countries, or even the ones their own husbands have.
Through case study, the psychodynamic approach was developed by Sigmund Freud. Freud visited Charcot’s, a laboratory in Paris investigating people suffering from hysteria. There, Freud began patient case studies (Crain, p. 254). Freud developed 5 stages of human development known as the Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital stages. The Oral stage is from the ages of birth to 18 months. This stage engages in oral activities such as sucking. Next the Anal stage begins around age 18 months to 3 years of age. Freud suggests that during the Anal stage a child focuses on the pleasure of purging from the rectal area. The Phallic stages, none as the masturbation stage, when a child get’s pleasure from focusing on his genital areas usually happens during ages 3 years to 6 years of age. After the Phallic stage come the Latency stages. Latency is when children at the ages of 6 to 12 years old work to develop cognitive and interpersonal skills suppressing sexual interests but those 12 years and older fall into the Genital stages. During the Genital stage those suppressed sexual interests re-occur and the need to find gratification dependent on finding a partner (Craig & Dunn, p 12)
...pabilities as humans. This narrow-minded nature only succeeded in making women more and more determined to prove their "worth" to members of the opposite sex. Although Freud was leading the pack of male chauvinists in the late nineteenth century he has since been overpowered by females that are no longer afraid to say what they feel or act on their impulses.
She said that men suffered from womb envy because they will under no circumstances be able to bear a child (Washington, 2009). Womb envy was indeed an opposition of Freud. Womb envy and the hostility created from it is manifested unconsciously in behaviors designed to belittle women and highlight their second-rate status (Schultz & Schultz, 2012). As an outcome of believing their inferiority, women may decide to refute their femininity and subconsciously desire to be men (Schultz & Schultz, 2012). Horney termed this experience flight from womanhood, a condition built on social and cultural disadvantages that can result in sexual unresponsiveness (Engler,
Freud emphasized that early childhood experiences are important to the development of the adult personality, proposing that childhood development took place over five stages; oral, anal. Phallic, latent and genital. The phallic stage is the most important stage which contains the Oedipus complex. This is where the child (age 4 - 6 yrs) posses the opposite sex parent and wants rid of the same sex parent. Freud argued that if the conflict is not resolved in childhood then it could cau...
Penis envy usually occurs in the phallic phase of the psycho-sexual development of a child. A girl sees her father’s authoritarian figure in the family and she can connect this totalitarian image with the
During this stage focus on the development when one starts to show interest in their sexual body parts, gender identity, the first interest in the opposite sex. Freud states that children during this stage often struggle with desires toward their parents of the opposite sex. During this stage children develop a curiosity towards their genitals and my also learn that the there is a difference in size among each individual. Freud developed the term Oedipus and Electra complex, which described the difference in the phallic stage between male and females. Oedipus, which refers to the story of how a man killed his father unknowingly and eventually marrying his own mother that he was also unaware of. Freud states that during the phallic stage boys fall in love with their mothers, they view their mothers as love objects. Though Freud emphasizes that boys saw mothers as love object he had a different opinion of girls and fathers. He referred to the Electra complex as girl seeking for their father’s attentions and openly seeks their father’s approval. I would say Freud might be the cause of the terms mamma’s boy and daddy’s girl. The oral, anal and phallic stage plays major parts of development especially in the development of trust, gender identity, positive and negative emotions. Freud stresses that during this stage it’s important for parents to respond positively to children during this time where sexuality will be
From a Freudian perspective, human development is based on psychosexual theory (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). Psychosexual theory indicates that maturation of the sex drives underlies stages of personality development (Shaffer et al., 2010). It was Freud’s perspective that there are three components of personality (the id, ego, and superego) that become integrated into his five stage theoretical model. The id was the biological or drive component that is innate from birth. The sole purpose of the Id is satiate an individual’s internal drives (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). The ego is the conscious portion of our personality that mediates between our id and superego. Throughout development the ego reflects the child’s emerging ability to...
Luce Irigaray, ’ article, “This Sex Which is Not one,” can be succinctly summarized by the following key points. First, the author mentions the way women are seen in the western philosophical discourse and in psychoanalytic theory. She also talks about the women’s sexuality in many ways. ”Female sexuality has always been concepualtized on the basis of masculine parameters.” Women are seen in qualitatively rather than quantitatively. “Must this multiplicity of female desire and female language be understood as shards, scattered remnants of a violated sexuality? A sexually denied?” Freud mentions that the clitoris is a small penis. The female parts are always seen as a commodity for men. Women don’t need men’s object to pleasure themselves
Freud’s psychosexual theory and Erikson’s psychosocial theory are two very renowned developmental concepts. Erikson was persuaded by Freud’s ideas but he elaborated on the theory differently.
The theory does a good job at delineating the stages of psychosexual development; our childhood has a great influence on our personalities. Referring to Freud’s ‘psychosexual stages’, it is very clear that parents’ role in an infant’s life is the foremost step to structure the personality. Not to forget, the oral and anal stages are focal fundamental to character traits in a person’s behavior. The inner ‘instincts’ of sexuality and aggression meeting with the socially acceptable norms creates a conflict zone, wherein it is decided what we are to do and what we would become.