How Anatomy Becomes Destiny? On the Feminist Receptions of Freudian Psychoanalysis

Abstract

Today psycho-sciences are grounded in the Freudian theory of personality development. This model holds that the Oedipal situation is the genesis of human subjectivity and also that castration anxiety is the starting point of the sexual differentiation of boys and girls. When Freud centralizes the psychosexual development around the phallus, a male genital, he gives a biological explanation for the lower ontological and social status of women. The present article investigates if there is any relevance of the Freudian theory and practice today. Besides, its model on psychosexual development is very problematic, especially for women. For this, I introduce critiques from the field of psychoanalysis, philosophy, and linguistics that do not want to reject Freud’s thoughts but transform them into useful material for critical gender theories.