Changes

[[Freud]] first described 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 to the [[female]]'s [[penis]] having been cut off.<ref>{{F}} "On the Sexual Theories of Children. 1908. SE IX. p.207</ref>

The [[castration complex]] is thus the moment when one infantile theory (everyone has a [[penis]]) is replaced by a new one ([[female]]s have been castrated).

It is encountered in every subject, and represents the ultimate limit beyond which psychoanalytic treatment cannot go.<ref>{{F}} "Analysis Terminable and Interminable." 1937. SE XXIII. p.211</ref>

==Jacques Lacan==