Freud isn’t sexist—in fact, psychoanalysis is feminist

The discipline runs into trouble with Freud on feminine sexuality, but personally, I sense a truth in his thinking

by Anna Blundy / July 18, 2017 / Leave a comment

Published in August 2017 issue of Prospect Magazine

Feminist thinkers often take issue with Sigmund Freud’s work

Oh, hallowed halls of the Institute of Psychoanalysis. Bronze busts peer down from plinths, trainees skulk beneath clutching their wine glasses sweatily, and those who feel assured of joining the bronzes in the not too distant future smile benignly with an air of infinite wisdom. There are crisps. It’s a seminar on psychoanalysis and feminism and renowned psychoanalysts of both sexes swell the audience. The rest of us are there too. The speaker is introduced by a man, a fellow analyst. She begins. On the one hand, psychoanalysis is famously egalitarian and lots of the most important thinkers in the field have been female from Freud’s time onwards, most notably Melanie Klein, whose (terrifying) work still dominates the profession.

On the other hand, psychoanalysis runs into trouble with feminism, starting with Freud on feminine sexuality (penis envy etc.), the suggestion that he was a patriarch of his time and the subsequent emphasis on the mother-infant relationship. The old psychoanalytic joke “if it’s not one thing it’s your mother” reinforces the idea of blame and guilt for mothers the world over.

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Comments

Alyson
July 24, 2017 at 22:00
Gendered power was central to Freud's assumptions, and his legacy still belittles women. Read Elaine Showalter - 'The Female Malady' - to understand how hysteria is actually powerlessness - the paralysing dilemma of being between the devil and the deep blue sea, of being compelled to act against your own interests in an unsafe environment. It was called shell shock after WWI but the symptoms were the same. Nonetheless he was the first to identify the developmental stages of life within a framework of social structures and frameworks. Maslow divides this framework into 7 year episodes. The first 7 years are grounding in safety and emotional security. The next 7 years are forming safe and trusting bonds with friends, and as long as the child is not abused, the next 7 years to age 21 are when the young person falls in love and makes the transition from child and friend to spouse or partner. Growing up into an adult role begins 21-28, when the adult defines him or herself professionally. 28-35 is the maturity, and responsibility is the mantle that fits. 35-42 the duty becomes onerous, and the question - what more is there - raises its head. 42-49 the philosopher gains wider knowledge and even potentially wisdom. 49-56 accepts who the person is within a more universal context, and who they might become if their potential us fully actualised. Jung had a fertile mid-life crisis and developed the visualisation journey through imagination, to retrace missed steps along the way, but Maslow is the oracle. He gets it right first time
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Anna Blundy is a writer in training to be a psychotherapist. The situation described above is composite and confidentiality has not been breached