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<blockquote>"[This] relationship to the phallus . . . is established without regard to the anatomical difference of the sexes."<ref>{{E}} p. 282</ref></blockquote>

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]] -- 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 [[lack|complete]] and [[autonomy|self-sufficient]] in herself, nor fully [[satisfied]] with her [[child]] (the [[subject]] himself), but [[desire]]s something else. This is the [[subject]]'s first perception that the [[Other]] is not [[lack|complete]] but [[lack]]ing.

The [[castration complex]] presents the [[subject]] with a choice: to accept [[castration complex|castration]] or to deny it. [[Lacan]] argues that it is only by accepting (or "assuming") [[castration complex|castration]] that the [[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 accept [[castration 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 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>

====Perversion====

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

====Psychosis====

The [[psychotic]] takes the most extreme path of all; he completely repudiates [[castration complex|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|genital organ]]s.

===Castration and Sexual Identity===

It is only by assuming [[castration complex|castration]] (in both senses) that the [[subject]] can take up a [[sexual difference|sexual position]] as a [[man]] or a [[woman]]. The different modalities of refusing [[castration complex|castration]] find expression in the various forms of [[perversion]].

==See Also==

{{See}}