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castration complex ({{Topp}}[[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, 1908c|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.

===Phallic Phase===The [[castration complex ]] affects both [[sex]]es because its [[appearance]] is thus 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 theory (everyone has a penis) 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 replaced by a new one (females have been castrated)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>

The consequences ===Oedipus Complex===[[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 this new infantile theory are different in [[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]] [[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|The Dissolution of the Oedipus Complex]]," 1924. [[SE]] XIX p. 173</ref>

The boy fears that his own penis will be cut off by <!-- ===Treatment=== --><!-- [[Freud]] came to see the [[fathercastration complex]] as a [[universal]] (phenomenon, one which is rooted in a basic "[[castrationrejection]] of [[anxietyfemininity]]" (''Ablehnung der Weiblich-keit''). It is encountered in every [[subject]], while the girl sees herself as already castrated (by and represents the ultimate [[limit]] beyond which [[motherpsychoanalytic treatment]]) cannot go.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Analysis Terminable and attempts to deny this or to compensate for it by seeking a child as a substitute for the penis (Interminable]]," 1937. [[penis envySE]])XXIII. p.211</ref>-->

The ==Jacques Lacan==<!-- ===Fantasy of the Mutilation of the Penis=== --><!-- [[Lacan]] -- who talks more often [[about]] "[[castration]]" than the "[[castration complex]]" -- does not discuss the [[castration complex affects both sexes because its appearance ]] very much in his early [[work]]. He dedicates a few paragraphs to it in his article on the [[family]], where he follows [[Freud]] in [[stating]] that [[castration]] is closely linked first and foremost a [[fantasy]] of the mutilation of the [[penis]]. [[Lacan]] [[links]] this [[fantasy]] with a [[whole]] series of [[fantasy|fantasies]] of [[bodily]] dismemberment which originate in the [[phallic phaseimage]], a moment of psychosexual the [[developmentfragmented body]] when ; this [[image]] is contemporary with the child[[mirror stage]] (six to eighteen months), whether boy or girl, knows and it is only one genital organ - much later that these [[fantasy|fantasies]] of dismemberment coalesce around the male onespecific [[fantasy]] of [[castration]].<ref>{{1938}} p.44</ref> -->

This phase ===Symbolic Lack of an Imaginary Object===It is also known as not until the infantile genital organisation because it is mid-1950s that the first moment when [[castration complex]] comes to play a prominent role in [[Lacan]]'s [[seminars|teaching]], primarily in [[the partial drives are unified under the primacy seminar of the genital organs1956-7]]. It thus anticipates is in this [[seminar]] that [[Lacan]] [[identifies]] [[castration complex|castration]] as one of [[three]] forms of "[[lack|lack of object]]", the genital organisation proper [[others]] being [[frustration]] and [[privation]]. Unlike [[frustration]] -- which is an [[imaginary]] [[lack]] of a [[real]] [[object]] -- and [[privation]] -- which arises at pubertyis a [[real]] [[lack]] of a [[symbolic]] [[object]], when the subject [[castration complex|castration]] is aware defined by [[Lacan]] as a [[symbolic]] [[lack]] of both an [[imaginary]] [[object]]; [[castration complex|castration]] does not bear on the male and [[penis]] as a [[real]] [[biology|organ]], but on the female sexual organs (see Freud, 1923e)[[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 [[biology|anatomy]]:

Freud argued that the castration complex <blockquote>"It is closely linked insoluble by any reduction to the [[Oedipus Complexbiological]], but that its role in the Oedipus complex is different for the boy and the girlgivens."<ref>{{E}} p. 282</ref></blockquote>

In the case of the boy===Oedipus Complex===Following [[Freud]], [[Lacan]] argues that the [[castration complex ]] is the point of exit from pivot on which the whole [[Oedipus complex]] turns.<ref>{{S4}} p. 216</ref> However, whereas [[Freud]] argues that these two [[complex]]es are articulated differently in [[boy]]s and [[girl]]s, its terminal crisis; because of his fear of castration (often aroused by a threat) [[Lacan]] argues that the boy renounces his [[desirecastration complex]] for always denotes the mother and thus enters final moment of the [[latency periodOedipus complex]] in both [[sexes]].

In [[Lacan]] [[divides]] the case of the girl, the castration [[Oedipus complex is the point of entry ]] into the three "[[Oedipus complex|times]]".<ref>{{S5}}; it is her resentment [[Seminar]] of 22 January 1958</ref># In the first [[time]], the [[child]] perceives that the [[mother]] [[desire]]s something beyond the [[child]] himself - namely, whom she blames the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]] -- and then tries to be the [[phallus]] for depriving her of the penis[[mother]] (see [[preoedipal phase]]).# In the second time, that causes her the [[imaginary]] [[father]] intervenes to redirect deprive the [[mother]] of her [[libidoobject]] by promulgating the [[incest taboo]]; properly [[speaking]], this is not [[castration complex|libidinalcastration]] desires away from but [[privation]]. # [[castration complex|Castration]] is only realized in the mother [[third]] and onto 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>

Because <!-- ==Two Operations== --><!-- From this account of this differencethe [[Oedipus complex]], in it is clear that [[Lacan]] uses the term "[[castration]]" to refer to two different operations. --><!-- ===Castration of the Mother===<!-- [[Lacan]] often uses the case term "[[castration complex|castration]]" to [[speak]] of the girl [[castration complex|castration]] -- or, more precisely, the "[[privation]]" -- of the [[mother]]. In the [[first time]] of the [[Oedipus complex has no definitive terminal crisis comparable to ]], "the mother is considered, by both sexes, as possessing the phallus, as the boy's[[phallic]] mother."<ref>Freud{{E}} p.282</ref> By promulgating the [[incest taboo]] in the [[second time]], the [[imaginary]] [[father]] is seen to deprive her of this [[phallus]]. However, 1924d[[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]]=== --><!-- This is [[castration complex|castration]] proper, in the [[sense]] of being a [[symbolic]] [[act]] which bears on an [[imaginary]] [[object]]. Whereas the [[castration complex|castration]]/ref[[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" -- the [[subject]] must [[renounce]] his attempts to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]]. -->

Freud came The [[subject]] must renounce his attempts to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]]. In renouncing his attempts to see be the castration complex as [[object]] of the [[mother]]'s [[desire]], the [[subject]] gives up a universal phenomenon, one certain ''[[jouissance]]'' which is rooted in a basic never regained despite all attempts to do so:<blockquote>"Castration means that ''jouissance'rejection of femininity' must be refused so that it can be reached on the inverted ladder (Ablehnung der Weiblich-keit''l'èchelle renversè''). It is encountered in every subject, and represents of the ultimate limit beyond which psychoanalytic treatment cannot go[[Law]] of [[desire]]."<ref>Freud, 1937c{{E}} p. 324</ref></blockquote>

<!-- == Lacan ==Lack==== -->LacanOn a more fundamental level, who talks more often about 'the term [[castrationcomplex|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]]' than 's [[birth]]. This [[lack]] is evident in her own [[desire]], which the [[subject]] perceives as a [[desire]] for the castration complex'[[imaginary]] [[phallus]]. That is, does not discuss the castration complex [[subject]] realises at a very much early [[stage]] that the [[mother]] is not [[lack|complete]] and [[autonomy|self-sufficient]] in his early workherself, 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.

He dedicates <!-- ==="Normalizing Effect"=== The [[castration complex]] presents the [[subject]] with a few paragraphs [[choice]]: to accept [[castration complex|castration]] or to deny it. [[Lacan]] argues that it in his article on is only by accepting (or "assuming") [[castration complex|castration]] that the family[[subject]] can reach a degree of [[psyche|psychic]] [[perversion|normality]]. In other [[words]], where he follows Freud the assumption of [[castration complex|castration]] has a "[[normalizing effect]]". This [[normalising effect]] is to be [[understood]] in stating 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 first and foremost never achieved. The closest to such a position is the [[fantasyneurosis|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 mutilation [[neurotic]] from fully assuming his [[desire]], since "it is the assumption of castration that creates the penislack upon which desire is instituted."<ref>{{Ec}} p. 852</ref>

Lacan links this fantasy with a whole series of fantasies of bodily dismemberment which originate in the A more radical [[defense]] against [[imagecastration complex|castration]] of the than [[fragmented bodyrepression]]; this image is contemporary with the [[mirror stagedisavowal]] (six to eighteen months), and it which is only much later that these fantasies at the root of dismemberment coalesce around the specific fantasy [[perversion|perverse]] [[structure]]. The [[psychotic]] takes the most extreme path of all; he completely repudiates [[castration complex|castration]], as if it had never existed.<ref>Lacan, 1938: 44{{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.

It <!-- ====Perversion====A more radical [[defense]] against [[castration complex|castration]] than [[repression]] is [[disavowal]], which is not until at the midroot of the [[perversion|perverse]] [[structure]]. -1950s that -><!-- ====Psychosis====The [[psychotic]] takes the most extreme path of all; he completely repudiates [[castration complex comes to play a prominent role in Lacan's teaching|castration]], primarily in as if it had never existed.<ref>{{S1}} p. 53</ref> This repudiation of [[castration complex|symbolic castration]] leads to the seminar return of 1956-7[[castration complex|castration]]. It is in this seminar that Lacan identifies castration the [[real]], such as one in the form of three forms [[hallucinations]] of '[[lackfragmented body|dismemberment]] (as in the case of the [[objectWolf Man]]', ) or even self-mutilation of the others being [[frustrationreal]] and [[privationgenital|genital organ]]s. Unlike frustration (which --><!-- ===Castration and Sexual Identity===It is an imaginary lack of a real object) and privation only by assuming [[castration complex|castration]] (which is a real lack of a symbolic objectin both senses), castration is defined by Lacan as that the [[subject]] can take up a [[symbolicsexual difference|sexual position]] lack of an imaginary object; castration does not bear on the penis as a real organ, but on the [[imaginaryman]] or a [[phalluswoman]].<ref>S4, 219</ref>Lacan's account The different modalities of the refusing [[castration complex is thus raised out of |castration]] find expression in the dimension various forms of simple [[biologyperversion]] or anatomy: 'It is insoluble by any reduction to biological givens.'<ref>E, 282</ref-->==See Also=={{See}}* [[Absence]]* [[Biology]]* [[Desire]]* [[Development]]||* [[Drive]]* [[Fantasy]]* [[Father]]* [[Frustration]]||* [[Lack]]* [[Mother]]* [[Neurosis]]* [[Oedipus complex]]||* [[Penis]]* [[Perversion]]* [[Phallus]]* [[Privation]]||* [[Psychosis]]* [[Sexual difference]]* [[Structure]]* [[Treatment]]{{Also}}

Following Freud, Lacan argues that the castration complex is the pivot on which the whole Oedipus complex turns.<ref>S4, 216</ref>==References==However, whereas Freud argues that these two complexes are articulated differently in boys and girls, 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 'times'.<ref>Lacan, 1957div style="font-8size: seminar of 22 January 1958</ref> # In the first time, the child perceives that the [[mother]] desires 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 but [[privation]]. # Castration is only realised 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 posesses the [[phallus]], in such a way that the child is forced to abandon his attempts to be the phallus.<ref>S4, 20811px" class="references-9, 227</refsmall">  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 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. # 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<references/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</refdiv>On 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 [[psychopathologCategory:Psychoanalysis]]y (clinical structures and symptoms) and [[sexual identityCategory:Jacques Lacan]]. == 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 castration entirely, a completely 'normal' position is never achieved.The closest to such a position is the [[neurosis|neuroticCategory:Sexuality]] [[structureCategory:Development]], but even here the subject still defends himself against the lack in the [[OtherCategory:Treatment]] 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|perverseCategory:Practice]] [[structure]].  The [[psychoticCategory:Dictionary]] takes the most extreme path of all; he completely repudiates castration, as if it had never existed.<ref>Sl, 53</ref>This repudiation of symbolic castration leads to the return of castration in the real, such as in the form of [[hallucinationsCategory:Concepts]] of 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 differenceCategory:Terms]]. The different modalities of refusing castration find expression in the various forms of [[perversion]].{{OK}}