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"{{Topp}}[[castration complex]complexe]" ([[Fr]]. ''[[complexe de castration]]''){{Bottom}} 

 ===Infantile TheorySexual Difference=== [[Freud]] first described the [[castration complex]] in 1908, arguing that the [[child]], - on discovering the [[biology|anatomical ]] [[sexual difference|difference between the sexes (]] -- the [[presence]] or [[absence]] of the [[penis]]), - makes the assumption that this [[sexual difference |difference]] is due to the [[female]]'s [[penis]] having been cut off.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|On the Sexual Theories of Children]]". 1908. [[SE ]] IX. p.207</ref>  [[Freud]]     The In his view, the [[castration complex]] is thus the [[moment ]] when one "[[castration complex|infantile theory (everyone ]]" -- that every [[human]] [[being]] has a [[penis]]) -- is replaced by a new one (-- that [[female]]s have been [[castrated)]].  The consequences of this new [[castration complex|infantile theory ]] are different in the [[boy]] and in the [[girl]].  The [[boy]] fears that his own [[penis]] will be cut off by the [[father]] ([[castration]] [[anxiety]]), while the [[girl]] sees herself as already castrated (by the [[mother]]) and attempts to deny this or to compensate for it by seeking a [[child]] as a [[substitute ]] for the [[penis]] . These [[unconscious]] representations, in [[phantasy]], cover over the lack at the heart of being in the Other and allow the subject to imagine (feel) as though they are special or fulfilled (not [[penis envylacking]]). Fear of [[psychic]] castration is thus met with a phantasy which positions the subject as not lacking which props up the ego as being of central importance.

The [[castration complex ]] affects both sexes [[sex]]es because its [[appearance ]] is closely linked with the [[castration complex|phallic phase]], a moment of psychosexual [[development|psychosexual development]] when the [[child]], whether [[boy ]] or [[girl]], [[knows ]] only one [[penis|genital organ ]] - the [[male ]] one.  This [[phase ]] is also known as the [[castration complex|infantile genital organisation ]] because it is the first moment when the [[drive|partial drives drive]]s are [[unified ]] under the primacy of the [[genital ]] organs.   It thus anticipates the [[genital|genital organisation ]] proper which arises at [[development|puberty]], when the [[subject ]] is aware of both the [[male ]] and the [[female ]] [[biology|sexual organsorgan]]s.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|The Infantile Genital Organization]]." 1923. [[SE ]] XIX. p.141</ref>

Freud argued that the castration complex is closely linked to the [[Oedipus Complex]], but that its role in the Oedipus complex is different for the boy and the girl.  In the case of the boy, the castration complex is the point of exit from the Oedipus complex, its terminal crisis; because of his fear of castration (often aroused by a threat) the boy renounces his [[desire]] for the mother and thus enters the [[latency period]].  In the case of the girl, the castration complex is the point of entry into the Oedipus complex; it is her resentment of the mother, whom she blames for depriving her of the penis, that causes her to redirect her [[libido|libidinal]] desires away from the mother and onto the father.  Because of this difference, in the case of the girl the Oedipus complex has no definitive terminal crisis comparable to the boy's.<ref>{{F}} "The Dissolution of the Oedipus Complex." 1924. SE XIX p.173</ref> !-- ===ConclusionTreatment===--><!-- [[Freud ]] came to see the [[castration complex ]] as a [[universal ]] phenomenon, one which is rooted in a basic '"[[rejection ]] of [[femininity]]" ('' (Ablehnung der Weiblich-keit'').  It is encountered in every [[subject]], and represents the ultimate [[limit ]] beyond which [[psychoanalytic treatment ]] cannot go.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Analysis Terminable and Interminable.]]," 1937. [[SE ]] XXIII. p.211</ref>-->

== Lacan =Symbolic Lack of an Imaginary Object===It is not until the mid-1950s that the [[castration complex]] comes to play a prominent role in [[Lacan]]'s [[seminars|teaching]], who talks more often about 'primarily in [[the seminar of 1956-7]]. It is in this [[seminar]] that [[Lacan]] [[identifies]] [[castrationcomplex|castration]] as one of [[three]]forms of "[[lack|lack of object]' than ']", the [[others]] being [[frustration]] and [[privation]]. Unlike [[frustration]] -- which is an [[imaginary]] [[lack]] of a [[real]] [[object]] -- and [[privation]] -- which is a [[real]] [[lack]] of a [[symbolic]] [[object]], [[castration complex', |castration]] is defined by [[Lacan]] as a [[symbolic]] [[lack]] of an [[imaginary]] [[object]]; [[castration complex|castration]] does not discuss bear on the [[penis]] as a [[real]] [[biology|organ]], but on the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 219</ref> [[Lacan]]'s account of the [[castration complex very much in his early work. ]] is thus raised out of the [[dimension]] of simple [[biology]] or [[biology|anatomy]]:

He dedicates a few paragraphs <blockquote>"It is insoluble by any reduction to it in his article on the family, where he follows Freud in stating that castration is first and foremost a [[fantasybiological]] of the mutilation of the penisgivens."<ref>{{E}} p. 282</ref></blockquote>

Lacan links this fantasy with a whole series of fantasies of bodily dismemberment which originate in the [[image]] of the [[fragmented body]]; this image is contemporary with the [[mirror stage]] (six to eighteen months), and it is only much later that these fantasies of dismemberment coalesce around the specific fantasy of castration.<ref>{{L}} 1938. p.44</ref>===Oedipus Complex=== It is not until the mid-1950s that the castration complex comes to play a prominent role in Lacan's teaching, primarily in Following [[the seminar of 1956-7]].  It is in this seminar that Lacan identifies castration as one of three forms of '[[lack]] of [[objectFreud]]', the others being [[frustration]] and [[privation]].   Unlike frustration (which is an imaginary lack of a real object) and privation (which is a real lack of a symbolic object), castration is defined by Lacan as a [[symbolic]] lack of an imaginary object; castration does not bear on the penis as a real organ, but on argues that the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]].<ref>{{S4}} p.219</ref> Lacan's account of the castration complex is thus raised out of the dimension of simple [[biology]] or anatomy: 'It is insoluble by any reduction to biological givens.'<ref>{{E}} p.282</ref> Following Freud, Lacan argues that the castration complex is the pivot on which the whole [[Oedipus complex ]] turns.<ref>{{S4}} p.216</ref> However, whereas [[Freud ]] argues that these two complexes [[complex]]es are articulated differently in boys [[boy]]s and girls[[girl]]s, [[Lacan ]] argues that the [[castration complex ]] always denotes the final moment of the [[Oedipus complex ]] in both [[sexes]].

[[Lacan ]] [[divides ]] the [[Oedipus complex ]] into three '"[[Oedipus complex|times']]".<ref>{{S5}}; seminar [[Seminar]] of 22 January 1958</ref># In the first [[time]], the [[child]] perceives that the [[mother]] [[desire]]s something beyond the [[child]] himself - namely, the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]] -- and then tries to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]] (see [[preoedipal phase]]).# In the second time, the [[imaginary]] [[father]] intervenes to deprive the [[mother]] of her [[object]] by promulgating the [[incest taboo]]; properly [[speaking]], this is not [[castration complex|castration]] but [[privation]]. # [[castration complex|Castration]] is only realized in the [[third]] and final time, which represents the "[[dissolution]]" of the [[Oedipus complex]]. It is then that the [[real]] [[father]] intervenes by showing that he really possesses the [[phallus]], in such a way that the [[child]] is [[forced]] to abandon his attempts to be the [[phallus]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 208-9, 227</ref>

# <!-- ==Two Operations== --><!-- From this account of the [[Oedipus complex]], it is clear that [[Lacan]] uses the term "[[castration]]" to refer to two different operations. --><!-- ===Castration of the Mother===<!-- [[Lacan]] often uses the term "[[castration complex|castration]]" to [[speak]] of the [[castration complex|castration]] -- or, more precisely, the "[[privation]]" -- of the [[mother]]. In the [[first time]] of the [[Oedipus complex]], "the child perceives that mother is considered, by both sexes, as possessing the phallus, as the [[phallic]] mother."<ref>{{E}} p.282</ref> By promulgating the [[incest taboo]] in the [[second time]] desires something beyond , the child [[imaginary]] [[father]] is seen to deprive her of this [[phallus]]. However, [[Lacan]] himself often uses these [[terms]] interchangeably, speaking both of the [[privation]] of the [[mother]] and of her [[castration complex|castration]].<!-- ===Castration of [[the Subject]]=== --><!-- namelyThis is [[castration complex|castration]] proper, in the [[sense]] of being a [[symbolic]] [[act]] which bears on an [[imaginary]] [[object]]. Whereas the [[castration complex|castration]]/[[privation]] of the [[mother]] which comes about in the second time of the [[Oedipus complex]] negates the verb "to have" -- the [[mother]] does not have the [[phallus]] , the [[castration complex|castration]] of the [[subject]] in the [[third time]] of the [[Oedipus complex]] negates the verb "to be" -- and then tries the [[subject]] must [[renounce]] his attempts to be the [[phallus ]] for the mother (see [[preoedipal phasemother]]).-->

# The [[subject]] must renounce his attempts to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]]. In renouncing his attempts to be the second time[[object]] of the [[mother]]'s [[desire]], the [[imaginarysubject]] gives up a certain ''[[fatherjouissance]] intervenes '' which is never regained despite all attempts to deprive do so:<blockquote>"Castration means that ''jouissance'' must be refused so that it can be reached on the mother inverted ladder (''l'èchelle renversè'') of her object by promulgating the [[incest tabooLaw]]; properly speaking, this is not castration but of [[privationdesire]]. "<ref>{{E}} p. 324</ref></blockquote>

# Castration This applies equally to [[boy]]s and [[girl]]s:<blockquote>"[This] [[relationship]] to the phallus . . . is only realised in the third and final time, which represents established without [[regard]] to the 'dissolution' [[anatomical]] [[difference]] of the Oedipus complexsexes."<ref>{{E}} p. 282</ref></blockquote>

It is then that <!-- ====Lack==== -->On a more fundamental level, the term [[castration complex|castration]] may also refer not to an "operation" -- the result of an [[intervention]] by the [[imaginary]] or [[real]] [[father]] intervenes by showing that he really posesses -- but to a [[state]] of [[lack]] which already [[exists]] in the [[mother]] prior to the [[subject]]'s [[birth]]. This [[lack]] is evident in her own [[desire]], which the [[subject]] perceives as a [[desire]] for the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]]. That is, in such the [[subject]] realises at a way very early [[stage]] that the [[mother]] is not [[lack|complete]] and [[autonomy|self-sufficient]] in herself, nor fully [[satisfied]] with her [[child ]] (the [[subject]] himself), but [[desire]]s something else. This is forced to abandon his attempts to be the phallus.<ref>{{S4}} p[[subject]]'s first [[perception]] that the [[Other]] is not [[lack|complete]] but [[lack]]ing.208-9, 227</ref>

<!-- ===Two Operations"Normalizing Effect"===From this account of The [[castration complex]] presents the Oedipus [[subject]] with a [[choice]]: to accept [[castration complex, |castration]] or to deny it. [[Lacan]] argues that it is clear only by accepting (or "assuming") [[castration complex|castration]] that Lacan uses the term '[[subject]] can reach a degree of [[psyche|psychic]] [[perversion|normality]]. In other [[words]], the assumption of [[castration complex|castration]] has a "[[normalizing effect]]". This [[normalising effect]] is to be [[understood]] in terms of both [[psychopathology]] ([[clinic]]al [[structure]]s and [[symptom]]s) and [[sexual identity]].-->===Clinical Structures===It is the [[refusal]] of [[castration' complex|castration]] that lies at the root of all [[neurosis|psychopathological]] [[structure]]s. However, since it is [[impossible]] to refer accept [[castration complex|castration]] entirely, a completely "normal" [[position]] is never achieved. The closest to two different operations:such a position is the [[neurosis|neurotic]] [[structure]], but even here the [[subject]] still [[defends]] himself against the [[lack]] in the [[Other]] by repressing [[awareness]] of [[castration complex|castration]]. This prevents the [[neurotic]] from fully assuming his [[desire]], since "it is the assumption of castration that creates the lack upon which desire is instituted."<ref>{{Ec}} p. 852</ref>

====Castration of the Mother====In the first time of the Oedipus complex, "the mother is considered, by both sexes, as possessing the phallus, as the phallic mother."<ref>{{E}} p.282</ref>  By promulgating the incest taboo in the second time, the imaginary father is seen to deprive her of this phallus.  Lacan argues that properly speaking, this is not castration but privation.  However, Lacan himself often uses these terms interchangeably, speaking both of the privation of the mother and of her castration. ====Castration of the Subject====This is castration proper, in the sense of being a symbolic act which bears on an imaginary object.  Whereas the castration/privation of the mother which comes about in the second time of the Oedipus complex negates the verb 'to have' (the mother does not have the phallus), the castration of the subject in the third time of the Oedipus complex negates the verb 'to be' (the subject must renounce his attempts to be the phallus for the mother).  In renouncing his attempts to be the object of the mother's desire, the subject gives up a certain ''[[jouissance]]'' which is never regained despite all attempts to do so; 'Castration means that ''jouissance'' must be refused so that it can be reached on the inverted ladder (''l'èchelle renversè'') of the [[Law]] of [[desire]].'<ref>{{E}} 324</ref> This applies equally to boys and girls: this 'relationship to the phallus . . . is established without regard to the anatomical difference of the sexes.'<ref>{{E}} p.282</ref> On a A more fundamental level, the term castration may also refer not to an 'operation' (the result of an intervention by the imaginary or real father) but to a state of lack which already exists in the mother prior to the subject's birth. This lack is evident in her own desire, which the subject perceives as a desire for the imaginary phallus.  That is, the subject realises at a very early stage that the mother is not complete and self-sufficient in herself, nor fully satisfied with her child (the subject himself), but desires something else.  This is the subject's first perception that the Other is not complete but lacking. ===Normalizing Effect===Both forms of castration (of the mother and of the subject) present the subject with a choice: to accept castration or to deny it.  Lacan argues that it is only by accepting (or 'assuming') castration that the subject can reach a degree of psychic normality.  In other words, the assumption of castration has a 'normalising effect'. This normalising effect is to be understood in terms of both radical [[psychopathologydefense]] (clinical structures and symptoms) and against [[sexual identity]]. ====Castration and Clinical Structures====It is the refusal of castration that lies at the root of all psychopathological structures.  However, since it is impossible to accept complex|castration entirely, a completely 'normal' position is never achieved. The closest to such a position is the [[neurosis|neurotic]] [[structure]], but even here the subject still defends himself against the lack in the [[Other]] by repressing awareness of castration.  This prevents the neurotic from fully assuming his desire, since 'it is the assumption of castration that creates the lack upon which desire is instituted.'<ref>{{Ec}} p.852</ref> A more radical defence against castration than [[repression]] is [[disavowal]], which is at the root of the [[perversion|perverse]] [[structure]].   The [[psychotic]] takes the most extreme path of all; he completely repudiates [[castrationcomplex|castration]], as if it had never existed.<ref>{{S1}} p. 53</ref> This [[repudiation ]] of [[castration complex|symbolic castration ]] leads to the [[return ]] of [[castration complex|castration]] in the [[real]], such as in the [[form ]] of [[hallucinations]] of [[fragmented body|dismemberment ]] (as in the case of the [[Wolf Man]]) or even [[self]]-mutilation of the real genital organs. ====Castration and Sexual Identity====It is only by assuming castration (in both senses) that the subject can take up a sexual position as a man or a woman (see [[sexual differencereal]].  The different modalities of refusing castration find expression in the various forms of [[perversiongenital|genital organ]]s.

[[Category:TermsSexuality]][[Category:DictionaryDevelopment]]

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