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The '''Electra [[complex]]''' is an ambiguous [[psychiatric ]] [[concept ]] which attempts to explain the [[maturation ]] of the [[human ]] [[female]]. It is said to be the female [[counterpart ]] to the [[Oedipus complex]] in males. Its [[name ]] comes from the [[Greek mythology|Greek myth]] of [[Electra]], who wanted her brother to avenge their [[father ]] [[Agamemnon]]'s [[death ]] by killing their [[mother ]] [[Clytemnestra]].

[[Carl Jung]] proposed the name Electra complex for [[Sigmund Freud]]'s concept of the "[[feminine ]] [[Oedipus ]] attitude" in young girls. According to Sigmund [[Freud]], the [[girl ]] is originally attached to the mother as well; however, when she discovers that she [[lacks ]] a penis during the [[phallic stage]] the daughter becomes libidinally attached to her father and imagines that she will become pregnant by him, while becoming more hostile towards her mother. This is due mostly to the [[idea ]] of "[[penis envy]]": that the girl is envious of her father's [[penis]] and wants to possess it so strongly that she [[dreams ]] of bearing his [[children]]. She believes that the [[pregnancy]] would replace the [[missing ]] penis which she envies and would allow her to gain equal status with the father.

This leads to resentment towards her mother, whom the girl believes caused her [[castration]]. According to some radical psychologists, the [[male ]] [[psyche]] is the dominant entity in human relations. This may be due in part to the [[belief ]] that females have a weaker [[superego]], where [[morality ]] is developed and values internalized. This judicial component of human [[personality ]] is developed during the [[phallic ]] [[stage]]. A dominant view of the male psyche may also be rooted in the habits of a [[social ]] [[system]], such as those descended from patriarchal cultures and [[family ]] systems. In later [[life]], so the [[theory ]] goes, the girl will grow into the [[character ]] type that her mother has developed as a means to attracting a man similar to her father.

Furthermore, if there is a [[perversion ]] in the [[development ]] of females or if their [[aggression ]] is somehow stifled, resentment can in turn be [[displaced ]] towards the dominant male (the father) or patriarchal cultures in general. Some say this explains [[lesbian]]ism and [[feminism]] (though this is not universally accepted, as it may unsupportedly assume that women loving and/or supporting equality for [[other ]] women requires an animosity toward men).

Some feminists generally [[regard ]] this theory as [[sexist]]. The assertion that [[women]] suffer from penis-[[envy ]] is generally attributed to the [[Victorian period|Victorian]] assertion that male [[sex organ]]s are somehow better than those of females. [[Others ]] believe that, due to the extensive privilege of the males compared to females, at the [[time ]] it was [[true]]: women wanted these rights, and after the success of the women's rights movement, this penis envy was reduced.

Continuing on this line of [[thought]], while penis envy has been reduced, it has not been wholly eliminated, as many cultures are still perceived to be heavily male-dominated in certain aspects of [[society ]] (as [[Income_disparity#Gender_gap|salaries will tell]]). The psychosocial ramifications still have the potential to produce the complex. Even if society as a [[whole ]] gravitates more to equality, the [[individual ]] homes in which children are raised would have a very strong influence, perhaps more than the rest of society depending on how much a [[child ]] is exposed to it. If a child is raised in a very sexist immediate family, neighborhood, or [[culture ]] (less likely in [[schools]], [[being ]] an accountable [[government ]] institution), the influence of sexist values could still [[affect ]] [[them]].

[[Feminist ]] theory has mostly rejected Freud's concept of penis envy by:* dismissing [[psychoanalysis]] as a [[project ]] of [[masculine ]] [[mastery]], * [[essentialism|essentializing]] [[femininity]] thus reclaiming [[difference ]] as an asset,

These theories are highly controversial and are continually [[subject ]] to much heated debate. While fashionable for a [[number ]] of decades, the theory lost mainstream acceptance during the [[1960s]] and [[1970s]]. It has since gone mainly rejected or ignored by mainstream academia. A modern counter to this idea is offered, known as the [[Westermarck effect]] in which [[imprinting (psychology)|imprinting]] during [[childhood ]] prevents incestual [[sexual ]] attraction. However, there are some psychologists who still subscribe to the Electra complex theory. Supporters of this theory blame its [[loss ]] of mainstream acceptance on a rise in [[socialist]] and [[neo-liberal]] [[ideological ]] stances that occurred around the same time, though there are [[capitalism|capitalists]] and [[conservativism|conservatives]] who also reject the Electra Complex theory.