Feminist Theory

Psychoanalytic

Liberal | Marxist | Psychoanalytic

Psychoanalytic: Fundamental Belief

Psychoanalytic feminists believe that women's psyche is deeply affected by past experiences, thus shaping their future lives.

The Roots of Psychoanalytic Feminism: Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud's developmental theory on the maturation of boys and girls has been a topic of much concern to many feminists. According to Freud, females suffer an Oedipus Complex that is much different than the male counterpart. Freud believed that the difference in the manner which the Oedipus Complex is experienced is associated with a woman's lack of a penis and leaves her scarred with narcissistic traits, vanity, and shame. Due to this absence of a penis, women experience discontent for themselves and feel personally defective as human beings.

Although many have found this theory of maturation to be sexist in nature, some feminists believe Freud can be a highly useful tool when reinterpreted to reject these ideals known as biological determinism.

Rejecting Freud's Biological Determinism

Unlike Freud's belief that biology determines an individual's future, Adler and Horney believed that gender identity, behavior, and sexual orientation are a result of experiences and not biology. Even though these feminist psychologists believed the lack of a penis was influential on a young woman's life, it was simply because society empowers men and not because women felt themselves to be defective.

Adler

According to Adler, men and women are equal because both sexes are born helpless. Biology, in Adler's opinion, is not absolute destiny to one's life, but rather a way to shape oneself. While Freud believed that women were neurotic because of inadequacies caused by the lack of a penis, Adler believed patriarchy has suppressed women's attempts to overcome infantile helplessness.

Horney

Horney believed female inferiority stems from social subordination and not castration. In her mind, women were symbolically castrated by the patriarchal society because it denied women the power a penis represents. Women in this system are forced into feminine roles and then forced to enjoy the subordinate position they have taken in society. According to Horney, as soon as women begin to see themselves as men's equals, society will no longer hold this power over them.

Firestone

According to Shulamith Firestone, women's sexual passivity does not occur naturally, but rather because of their physical, emotional, and economic dependence on men. In order to abolish this oppression, Firstone advocated abolishing the nuclear family. This alteration in the structure of the family would proscribe male and female struggles for power and create equality across the sexes.

Millett

Millett did not so much find difficulty in Freud himself, but rather neo-Freudian therapists who claimed male sexual aggression is rooted in biology, with the penis being the power-giving structure envied by women. These neo-Freudian therapists do not interpret women's ability to give birth as a powerful event. Rather, they see birth as an attempt to possess a substitute penis.

**Information gathered from Tong, Rosemarie Putnam, Feminist Thought, 1998.