Changes

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.

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 [[psychopatholog]]y (clinical structures and symptoms) and [[sexual identity]].

It is the refusal of castration that lies at the root of all psychopathological structures.

However, since it is impossible to accept castration entirely, a completely 'normal' position is never achieved.

A more radical defence against castration than [[repression]] is [[disavowal]], which is at the root of the [[perversion|perverse]] [[structure]].

This repudiation of symbolic castration leads to the return of castration in the real, such as in the form of [[hallucinations]] of dismemberment (as in the case of the [[Wolf Man]]) or even self-mutilation of the real genital organs.

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 difference]].

The different modalities of refusing castration find expression in the various forms of [[perversion]].