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

===Sigmund Freud=====Sexual 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> In his view, the [[castration complex]] is the [[moment]] when one "[[castration complex|infantile theory]]" -- 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 [[lacking]]). 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.

====Infantile Theory=Phallic Phase===The [[castration complex]] affects both [[sex]]es because its [[appearance]] is closely linked with the [[castration complex|phallic phase]], a moment of [[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 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 organ]]s.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|The Infantile Genital Organization]]." 1923. [[SE]] XIX. p. 141</ref>

===Oedipus Complex===[[Freud]] first described argued that the [[castration complex]] in 1908, arguing that the [[child]], on discovering the anatomical difference between the sexes (the [[presence]] or [[absence]] of the [[penis]]), makes the assumption that this difference is due closely linked to the [[femaleOedipus complex]]'s [[penis]] having been cut off.<ref>Freud, 1908c</ref>  The but that its [[castration complexrole]] is thus in the moment when one infantile theory (everyone has a [[penisOedipus complex]]) is replaced by a new one ([[female]]s have been castrated).  The consequences of this new infantile theory are different in for the [[boy]] and in the [[girl]].  The In the [[boycase]] fears that his own [[penis]] will be cut off by of the [[father]boy] ([[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]] ([[penis envy]]). ====Phallic Phase====The castration complex affects both sexes because its appearance is closely linked with the [[phallic phase]], a moment of psychosexual [[development]] when the child, whether boy or girl, knows only one genital organ - the male one. This phase is also known as the infantile genital organisation because it is the first moment when the partial drives are unified under the primacy point of the genital organs.  It thus anticipates the genital organisation proper which arises at puberty, when the subject is aware of both the male and the female sexual organs (see Freud, 1923e). ====Oedipus Complex==== Freud argued that the castration complex is closely linked to exit from the [[Oedipus Complexcomplex]], 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 [[fear|threat) ]] -- the [[boy ]] renounces his [[desire]] for the [[mother ]] and thus enters the [[development|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 [[desire]]s away from the [[mother ]] and onto the [[father]].  Because of this [[sexual difference|difference]], in the case of the [[girl ]] the [[Oedipus complex ]] has no definitive terminal crisis comparable to the [[boy]]'s.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud, 1924d</ref> ====Conclusion====Freud came to see |The Dissolution of the castration complex as a universal phenomenonOedipus Complex]], one which is rooted in a basic 'rejection of femininity' (Ablehnung der Weiblich-keit)" 1924.  It is encountered in every subject, and represents the ultimate limit beyond which psychoanalytic treatment cannot go[[SE]] XIX p.<ref>Freud, 1937c173</ref>

 <!-- ==Catration 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' (E, 282). 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. Perversion==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, 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.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 [[psychopathologdefense]]y (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, 852</ref>A more radical defence against 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>Sl, {{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 organsorgan]]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 (see [[sexual differencewoman]]. The different modalities of refusing [[castration complex|castration ]] find expression in the various forms of [[perversion]]. -->

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