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==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 [[absense]] 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>
===Infantile Theory===
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 [[Freudcastration complex|infantile theory]] first describes are different in the [[castration complexboy]] and in 1908the [[girl]].
The [[child]] -- on discovering the [[biology|anatomical]] [[sexual difference|difference between the sexes]] -- the [[presence]] or [[absense]] of the [[penisboy]] -- makes the assumption fears that this [[sexual difference|difference]] is due to the [[female]]'s his own [[penis]] having been will be cut off.<ref>{{F}} "On by the Sexual Theories of Children. 1908. [[SEfather]] IX. p.207</ref> In his view, the ([[castration complex]] is the moment when one "infantile theory" -- that every [[humananxiety]] ), while the [[beinggirl]] has a sees herself as already castrated (by the [[penismother]] -- is replaced ) and attempts to deny this or to compensate for it by seeking a new one -- that [[femalechild]]s have been [[castrated]]. The consequences of this new infantile theory are different in as a substitute for the [[boypenis]] and in the ([[girlpenis envy]]).
===Phallic Phase===The [[boycastration complex]] fears that his own affects both [[penissex]] will be cut off by es because its appearance is closely linked with the [[father]] ([[castrationcomplex|phallic phase]] , a moment of [[anxietydevelopment|psychosexual development]]), while when the [[girlchild]] sees herself as already castrated (by the , whether [[motherboy]]) and attempts to deny this or to compensate for it by seeking a [[childgirl]] as a substitute for the , knows only one [[penis|genital organ]] (- the [[penis envymale]])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]] 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]].
===Girl===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|The Dissolution of the Oedipus Complex.]]," 1924. [[SE ]] XIX p.173</ref>
===ConclusionTreatment===[[Freud ]] came to see the [[castration complex ]] as a universal phenomenon, one which is rooted in a basic '"rejection of femininity" ('' (Ablehnung der Weiblich-keit'').
It is encountered in every [[subject]], and represents the ultimate limit beyond which [[psychoanalytic treatment ]] cannot go.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Analysis Terminable and Interminable.]]," 1937. [[SE ]] XXIII. p.211</ref>
==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]] very much in his early work.
It is in this seminar not until the mid-1950s that Lacan identifies castration as one of three forms of 'the [[lackcastration complex]] of comes to play a prominent role in [[objectLacan]]', the others being s [[frustrationseminars|teaching]] and , primarily in [[privationthe seminar of 1956-7]].
It is in this [[seminar]] that [[Lacan]] identifies [[castration complex|castration]] as one of three forms of "[[lack|lack of object]]", the others being [[frustration]] and [[privation]].
Unlike [[frustration (]] -- which is an [[imaginary ]] [[lack ]] of a [[real ]] [[object) ]] -- and [[privation (]] -- which is a [[real ]] [[lack ]] of a [[symbolic ]] [[object)]], [[castration complex|castration]] is defined by [[Lacan ]] as a [[symbolic]] [[lack ]] of an [[imaginary ]] [[object]]; [[castration complex|castration ]] does not bear on the [[penis ]] as a [[real ]] [[biology|organ]], but on the [[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]]: 'It is insoluble by any reduction to biological givens.'<ref>{{E}} p.282</ref>
===Oedipus Complex==Following [[Freud]], [[Lacan ]] argues that the [[castration complex ]] is the pivot on which the whole [[Oedipus complex ]] turns.<ref>{{S4}} p.216</ref>
However, whereas [[Freud ]] argues that these two complexes [[complex]]es are articulated differently in boys [[boy]]s and girls[[girl]]s, [[Lacan ]] argues that the [[castration complex ]] always denotes the final moment of the [[Oedipus complex ]] in both sexes.
===Three Times===[[Lacan ]] divides the [[Oedipus complex ]] into three '"[[Oedipus complex|times']]".<ref>{{S5}}; seminar [[Seminar]] of 22 January 1958</ref>
# In the first time, the [[child ]] perceives that the [[mother]] desires [[desire]]s 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 complex|castration ]] but [[privation]].
# [[castration complex|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}} p.208-9, 227</ref>
===Two Operations===
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====
[[Lacan]] often uses the term "[[castration complex|castration]]" to speak of the [[castration complex|castration]] -- or, more precisely, the "[[privation]]" -- 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."<ref>{{E}} p.282</ref>
By promulgating the [[incest taboo]] in the [[second time]], the [[imaginary]] [[father]] is seen to deprive her of this [[phallus]].
====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]]/[[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]]. 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:
<blockquote>"[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}} p.282</ref></blockquote>
===Lack of the Mother===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 desires [[desire]]s something else.
This is the [[subject]]'s first perception that the [[Other ]] is not [[lack|complete ]] but lacking[[lack]]ing.
===Normalizing Effect===
Both forms of [[castration complex|castration]] (of the [[mother ]] and of the [[subject]]) present 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 psychic normality.
====Castration and Clinical Structures====
It is the refusal of [[castration complex|castration]] that lies at the root of all [[neurosis|psychopathological structures]] [[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 [[defence ]] 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 [[castrationcomplex|castration]], as if it had never existed.<ref>{{S1}} 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]].
==See Also==
{{See}}
* [[Oedipus complex]]
* [[Penis]]
* [[Phallus]]
{{Also}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
[[Category:TermsSexuality]][[Category:DictionaryDevelopment]]
[[Category:Treatment]]
[[Category:Practice]]
[[Category:Dictionary]]
[[Category:Concepts]]
[[Category:PsychoanalysisTerms]]{{OK}} __NOTOC__