The Myths and Facts Behind Psychoanalytic Feminism
- Ankit Sharma
- Dec 6, 2022
- 2 min read
Psychoanalytic feminism is a theory of oppression.
It asserts that men have an inherent psychological need to subjugate women.
The root of men's compulsion to dominate women and women's minimal resistance to subjugation lies deep within the human psyche.
According to Freud, femininity is one trajectory of the Oedipal Complex.
The study indicates that sex identity is a fragile achievement rather than something inherent or inherent at birth.
Freud had been widely discredited by early second-wave feminists, including Simone de Beauvoir, Kate Millett and Germaine Greer.
Millett argued that Freudian theory worked to perpetuate sexual differences and reinforce the belief that inferiority was an inherent quality of the female.
According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory of gender development, gender development occurs during the third stage of psychosexual development.
The phallic stage occurs between the ages of three and six and is known as the phallic stage.
Several scholars have questioned Freud's assessments regarding women's sexuality and the role of castration and penis envy therein, including Karl Abraham, Helene Deutsch, Ernest Jones, and Karen Horney.
According to Horney, the feminine disposition is an inherent characteristic rather than only a secondary development resulting from castration.
Horney expressed concern over women's perceived inferiority and penis envy.
To reclaim female sexuality, Horney appealed to a genuinely independent nature and held culture responsible for the subordination of women.
Horney challenges Freud's central hypothesis precisely by marking psychoanalysis as a unique field of investigation, that of a psychical realm of representation that is unconscious.
Most notable among Mitchell's works are Psychoanalysis and Feminism: Freud, Reich, Laing and Women (1974).
Mitchell tried to reconcile psychoanalysis and feminism in this book when many considered them incompatible.
According to Peter Gay, it was "the most rewarding and responsible contribution" to the feminist debate on Freud, acknowledging and transcending Freud's male chauvinism.
According to Mitchell, Freud's asymmetrical view of masculinity and femininity reflects the reality of patriarchal societies.
Her critique of femininity was to critique patriarchy as a whole.
The work of Mitchell opened the door for further critical consideration of psychoanalysis and gender.
'Femininity, Narrative and Psychoanalysis' is the transcript of a lecture delivered at a conference on Narrative held in Australia in 1972.
The lecture brings together English Literature, politics, psychoanalysis and feminism.
Comments