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==Sigmund Freud=====Phallus and Penis===[[Freud]]'s [[Works of Sigmund Freud|work]] abounds in references to did not distinguish between the [[phallus|penis]]. as an actual ([[Freudanatomical]] argues that children of both ) [[sexual differencebody|sexesbodily organ]] set great value on and the [[phallus|penis]], and that their discovery that some [[human]] [[being]]s do not possess as a [[phallus|penis]] leads to important psychical consequences. However, the term "[[phallus]]" rarely appears in [[Freud]]'s [[Works of Sigmund Freud|worksignifier]], and when it does it is used as a synonym of "[[phallus|penissexual difference]]".

===Sexual Difference=Phallic Phase==[[Freud]] does use called the adjective "[[phallicdevelopment|period]]" more frequently, such as in the expression the "between [[phallic phasedevelopment|three and five years of age]]", but again this implies no rigorous distinction between the terms "[[phallus]]" and "[[phallus|penisphallic phase]].", since the The [[phallic phase]] denotes a [[stage ]] in [[development]] in which the [[child]] ([[boy]] or [[girl]]) [[knows ]] only one [[biology|genital organ]] - the [[phallus|penis]]. At this stage, infants of both [[sexes]] are dominated by the question of who possesses a penis and the related issue of its masturbatory jouissance ([[gratification]]). [[Freud]] argues that [[children]] of both [[sexual difference|sexes]] set great [[value]] on the [[phallus|penis]], and that their discovery that some [[human]] [[being]]s do not possess a [[phallus|penis]] leads to important [[psyche|psychical]] consequences. Up to this point, the mother is imagined as having a penis, and the discovery that she [[lacks]] a penis, after an initial [[denial]], precipitates the castration complex.

==Jacques Lacan==<!--Freud had his first intuition of the primacy of the phallus as early as 1905 in "[[LacanThree]] generally prefers to use essays on the term theory of sexuality"; it is explicitly discussed in "The [[phallusinfantile]]genital organization," rather than which Freud offered in 1923 as a complement to "Three Essays." In this later [[text]], the predominance of the phallus|penisis linked to the problematic of castration in the following way:<blockquote>The main characteristic of this 'infantile genital organization' is its [[difference]] from the final genital organization of the [[adult]]" . This consists in order to emphasize the fact that what concerns , for both sexes, only one genital, namely the male one, comes into account. What is [[psychoanalytic theorypresent]] , therefore, is not a primacy of the genitals, but a primacy of the phallus. [Freud 1923, p. 142 ]</blockquote>The fact that the essential [biology|male [role]] of only one genital organis recognized at a certain stage in infantile [[sexual]] development implies that this primacy, from the outset, is not located in its the realm of anatomical reality or on the level of organs, but precisely on the level of what a lack of the organ might [[represent]] subjectively.Freud ( 1923) makes the same radical [[biology|biologicaldistinction]] by linking castration to the phallic [[realityorder]] but and not to the penis.<blockquote>The lack of a penis [my italics] is regarded as a result of castration, and so now the child is faced with the role task of coming to [[terms]] with castration in relation to himself. The further developments are too well known generally to make it necessary to recapitulate [[them]] here. But it seems to me that the [[significance]] of the castration complex can only be rightly appreciated if its origin in the [[phase]] of phallic primacy is also taken into account. [ Freud's italics] [p. 144]</blockquote>In fact, sexual difference is constituted from the outset on the basis of this [[notion]] of lack: the [[feminine]] genital organ plays in is different from the [[fantasymasculine]]one only because it lacks something. Hence In addition, the product of observation (perceptual reality) is immediately elaborated on the [[Lacansubjective]] usually reserves level as a conception: Freud writes "the lack of a penis is regarded as." As Freud ( 1923) puts it, this lack confronts the term child "with the task of coming to terms with castration in relation to himself"(p. 144).--><!-- It is in the [[domain]] of these [[phallus|penisFreudian]]" for references that Lacan systematizes the problematics of the phallus as foundational to [[biology|biological organpsychoanalytic]]theory. Specifically, and Lacan establishes the phallus as the term "primordial signifier of desire in [[oedipal]] triangulation. The [[phallusOedipus]]" for complex plays itself out around locating the [[imaginaryposition]] of the phallus in relation to the desire of the mother, the child, and the father. A [[symbolicdialectical]] functions of this [[biology|organprocess]]develops in two modes: that of being the phallus and that of having the phallus.-->

<!-- ===Jacques Lacan==Freud's Work===== --><!-- While this terminological distinction is not found in The term [[Freudphallic]]'s occupies an important [[Works of Sigmund Freud|workplace]], it responds to the logic implicit in [[FreudLacanian]]'s formulations on the [[phallusspeech|penisdiscourse]]. For example, when The [[Freudphallus]] speaks of plays a [[symbolic]] equation between central role in both the [[phallus|penisOedipus complex]] and in the theory of [[babysexual difference]] which allows the [[girl]] to appease her [[penis envy]] by having a [[child]], it is clear that he is .<!-- Although not talking about the prominent in [[biology|real organLacan]].<ref>{{F}} "'s [[Works of Sigmund FreudJacques Lacan|On work]] before the Transformations of Instinctmid-1950s, as Exemplified in Anal Eroticism]].the term " 1917c. [[SEphallus]] XVII, 127</ref> It can be argued, then, that [[Lacan]]'s terminological innovation simply clarifies certain distinctions that were already implicit " occupies an ever more important place in his [[Freud]]'s [[Works of Sigmund Freud|workdiscourse]]thereafter. -->

===Lacan's WorkNot Penis===Although [[Lacan]] generally prefers to use the term "[[phallus]]" rather than "[[phallus|penis]]" in order to emphasize the fact that what concerns [[psychoanalytic theory]] is not prominent the [[biology|male genital organ]] in its [[biology|biological]] [[reality]] but the role that this organ plays in [[fantasy]]. Hence [[Lacan]]'s usually reserves the term "[[Works of Jacques Lacanphallus|workpenis]] before " for the mid-1950s[[biology|biological organ]], and the term "[[phallus]]" occupies an ever more important place in his for the [[imaginary]] and [[symbolic]] functions of this [[discoursebiology|organ]] thereafter. The [[phallusJacques Lacan]] [[chose]] plays a central role in both to use the term "phallus" for [[Oedipus complexthe imaginary]] and symbolic [[representation]] of the penis in order to better distinguish the theory role of the penis in the fantasy [[sexual differencelife]]of both sexes from its anatomical role.

===Oedipus complexSignifier===The For [[phallusLacan]] is one focus on the function of the three elements in the [[imaginaryphallus]] as a [[structure|trianglesignifier]] that constitutes the [[preoedipal phase]]. It is an [[imaginary]] [[object]] which circulates between the other two elements, the of [[motherlack]] and the [[childsexual difference]].<ref>{{S3}} p. 319</ref> The [[motherphallus]] in [[desireLacan]]s this ian [[objecttheory]] and should not be confused with the [[childmale]] seeks to satisfy her [[desiregenital]] by [[identifyingorgan]] with the , although it clearly carries those connotations. The [[phallus]] or with the is first and foremost a [[phallus|phallic mothersignifier]]. In the and in [[Oedipus complexLacan]] the 's [[fathersystem]] intervenes as a fourth term in this particularly privileged [[imaginarysignifier]] . The [[structure|trianglephallus]] by operates in all three of [[castration|castratingLacan]] the 's [[childregister]]; that is, he makes it impossible for s - the [[childimaginary]] to , the [[identifysymbolic]] with and the [[phallus|imaginary phallusreal]]. The [[child]] is then faced with - and as his system develops it becomes the choice of accepting his one single indivisible [[castrationsignifier]] (accepting that he cannot be anchors the [[motherchain]]'s of [[phallussignification]]) or rejecting it. ((For Lacan Indeed, the phallus it is not to be equated with the penis, and as a particularly privileged [[signifier ]] because it performs a different function in each inaugurates the process of the three orders: the imaginary, the symbolic and the real[[signification]] itself. ))

==Oedipus complex==The [[phallus]] is one of the three elements in the [[imaginary]] [[structure|triangle]] that constitutes the [[preoedipal phase]]. It is an [[imaginary]] [[object]] which circulates between the other two elements, the [[mother]] and the [[child]].<ref>{{S3}} p. 319</ref> The [[mother]] [[desire]]s this [[object]] and the [[child]] seeks to [[satisfy]] her [[desire]] by [[identifying]] with the [[phallus]] or with the [[phallus|phallic mother]]. In the [[Oedipus complex]] the [[father]] intervenes as a fourth term in this [[imaginary]] [[structure|triangle]] by [[castration|castrating]] the [[child]]; that is, he makes it [[impossible]] for the [[child]] to [[identify]] with the [[phallus|imaginary phallus]]. The [[child]] is then faced with the [[choice]] of accepting his [[castration]] (accepting that he cannot be the [[mother]]'s [[phallus]]) or rejecting it. ((For Lacan, the phallus is not to be equated with the penis, and as a signifier it performs a different function in each of the three [[orders]]: the imaginary, [[the symbolic]] and the real. )) ==[[Sexual Difference]]=== [[Lacan]] argues that both [[boy]]s and [[girl]]s must assume their [[castration]], in the [[sense ]] that every [[child]] must [[renounce ]] the possibility of being the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]]; this "[[relationship ]] to the phallus . . . is established without [[regard ]] to the anatomical difference of the sexes."<ref>{{E}} p. 282</ref> The [[renunciation ]] by both [[sexual difference|sexes]] of [[identification]] with the [[phallus|imaginary phallus]] paves the way for a relationship with the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]] which is different for the [[sexual difference|sexes]]; the man has the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]] (or, more precisely, "he is not without having it" [''il n'est pas sans l'avoir'']), but the [[woman]] does not. This is complicated by the fact that the [[woman|man]] can only lay [[claim ]] to the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]] on condition that he has assumed his own [[castration]] (has given up being the [[phallus|imaginary phallus]]), and by the fact that the [[woman]]'s [[lack]] of the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]] is also a kind of possession.<ref>{{S4}} p. 153</ref>

=====[[The Real ]] Phallus===== As has already been observed, [[Lacan]] usually uses the term "[[phallus|penis]]" to denote the [[real]] [[biology|biological organ]] and reserves the term "[[phallus]]" to denote the [[imaginary]] and [[symbolic]] functions of this [[biology|organ]]. However, he does not always maintain this usage, occasionally using the term "[[phallus|real phallus]]" to denote the [[biology|biological organ]], or using the terms "[[phallus|symbolic phallus]]" and "[[phallus|symbolic penis]]" as if they were synonymous.<ref>{{S4}} p. 153</ref> This [[apparent ]] confusion and semantic [[slip]]page has led some commentators to argue that the supposed distinction between the [[phallus]] and the [[phallus|penis]] is in fact highly unstable and that "the phallus [[concept ]] is the site of a [[regression ]] towards the [[biological ]] organ."<ref>Macey, David. (1988) ''Lacan in Contexts''. [[London ]] and New York: Verso. 1988: 191</ref>

While the [[phallus|imaginary phallus]] and the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]] are discussed more extensively by [[Lacan]] than the [[phallus|real phallus]], he does not entirely ignore the latter. On the contrary, the [[phallus|real penis]] has an important role to play in the [[Oedipus complex]] of the little boy, for it is precisely via this [[biology|organ]] that his [[sexuality]] makes itself felt in infantile [[masturbation]]; this intrusion of the [[real]] in the [[imaginary]] [[preoedipal]] [[structure|triangle]] is what transforms the [[structure|triangle]] from something [[pleasure principle|pleasurable]] to something which provokes [[anxiety]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 225----6; {{S4}} p. 341</ref> The question posed in the [[Oedipus complex]] is that of where the [[phallus|real phallus]] is located; the answer required for the [[resolution]] of this [[complex]] is that it is located in the [[real]] [[father]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 281</ref> The [[phallus|real phallus]] is written Π in [[Lacan]]ian [[algebra]].

While the ==The Imaginary Phallus==When [[phallus|imaginary phallusLacan]] and first introduces the distinction between [[phallus|symbolic phalluspenis]] are discussed more extensively by [[Lacan]] than the and [[phallus|real phallus]], he does not entirely ignore the latter. On the contrary, the [[phallus|real penis]] has refers to an important role to play in the [[Oedipus compleximaginary]] of the little boy, for it is precisely via this [[biology|organobject]] that his .<ref>{{S4}} p. 31</ref> This is the "[[sexuality]] makes itself felt in infantile masturbation; this intrusion phallus|image of the [[realpenis]] in ",<ref>{{E}} p. 319</ref> the [[imaginary]] [[preoedipal]] [[structurephallus|trianglepenis]] is what transforms the imagined as a [[structure|trianglepart-object]] which may be detached from something the [[pleasure principlefragmented body|pleasurablebody]] to something which provokes by [[anxietycastration]].,<ref>{{S4E}} p. 225-6; 315</ref> the "phallic [[image]]".<ref>{{S4E}} p. 341320</ref> The question posed [[phallus|imaginary phallus]] is perceived by the [[child]] in the [[Oedipus complexpreoedipal phase]] as the [[object]] of the [[mother]]'s [[desire]] is , as that of where which she [[desire]]s beyond the [[phallus|real phalluschild]] is located; the answer required for the resolution of [[child]] thus seeks to [[identify]] with this [[object]]. The [[Oedipus complex]] is that it is located in and the [[realCastration complex]] involve the renunciation of this attempt to be the [[fatherphallus|imaginary phallus]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 281</ref> The [[phallus|real imaginary phallus]] is written Π φ (lower-[[case]] phi) in [[Lacan]]ian [[algebra]], which also represents [[phallus|phallic signification]]. [[Castration]] is written -φ (minus lower-case phi).

===The Imaginary Phallus===When [[Lacan]] first introduces As we saw above, the child slowly comes to realise that it is not identical to, or the distinction between [[phallus|penis]] and [[phallus]]sole object of, the mother's [[phallusdesire,]] refers as her desire is directed elsewhere. He/she will therefore attempt to an once again become the object of her desire and [[imaginaryreturn]] to the initial [[objectstate]]of blissful union.<ref>{{S4}} p. 31</ref> This The simple dyadic relationship between the mother and child is the "thus turned into a [[phallus|image of the penistriangular]]"relationship between the child,<ref>{{E}} pthe mother and the object of her desire. 319</ref> the The child attempts to [[phallus|penisseduce]] imagined as a the mother by becoming that [[part-objectof desire]] which may be detached from the . Lacan calls this [[fragmented body|bodythird]] by term the [[castrationimaginary phallus]],<ref>{{E}} p. 315</ref> the "phallic image".<ref>{{E}} p. 320</ref> The [[phallus|imaginary phallus]] is perceived by what the [[child]] assumes someone must have in order for them to be the object of the mother's desire and, as her desire is usually directed towards the father, it is assumed that he possesses the phallus. Through trying to satisfy the mother's desire, the child [[preoedipal phaseidentifies]] as with the object that it presumes she has lost and attempts to become that object for her. The phallus is imaginary in the sense that it is associated in the child's [[objectmind]] with an actual object that has been lost and can be recovered. The Oedipus complex, for Lacan, involves the process of giving up the identification with this imaginary phallus, and recognizing that it is a signifier and as such was never there in the first place. What Freud called castration, therefore, is a symbolic process that involves the [[motherinfant]]'s [[desirerecognition]], of themselves as that which she '[[desirelacking]]s beyond ' something - the phallus. For Lacan, castration involves the process whereby boys accept that they can [[childsymbolically]]; 'have' the phallus only by accepting that they can never actually have it 'in reality' and girls can accept 'not-having' the phallus once they give up on their 'phallic' identification with their mothers (we will discuss this very complicated [[childidea]] thus seeks in more detail in the chapter on sexual difference). This is the function of the Oedipus complex in Lacan.<!-- According to Lacan, the phallus at the outset represents what else the mother desires is in addition to the [[identifybaby]] with this . Thus, a [[objectpre-oedipal]]. The [[Oedipus complextriangle]] of mother, phallus, and infant arises. At first the infant tries to be the phallus for the mother until the [[Castration complexmoment]] involve of a crucial transformation when the child, after identifying the renunciation phallus as a static image of this attempt to be the [[phallus|imaginary phalluscompleteness]]and sufficiency, sees it as representing the mother's desire, and thus her lack. The From then on, the phallus takes the [[phallus|imaginary phallusform]] is written φ (lower-case phi) in of something [[Lacanmissing]]ian (-') within any imaginary, and hence [[algebralibidinal]], which also represents [[phallus|phallic significationframe]]of reference. Thus the phallus comes to [[Castrationsignify]] is written desire, Lacan says. -φ (minus lower-case phi).>

===The Symbolic Phallus===<!-- When the phallus takes on the role of signifier, this implies that the subject grasps it in the [[Other, the]] locus of the set of [[signifiers]] that determines the subject. There it signifies the Other's desire, which is to say that the Other is marked by her own [[incompleteness]]. From then on, the phallus signifies the Other's submission to the laws of symbolic [[exchange]], and such incompleteness frees up in the subject her own jouissance. -->The [[phallus|imaginary phallus]] which circulates between [[mother]] and [[child]] serves to institute the first [[dialectic]] in the child's life, which, although it is an [[imaginary]] [[dialectic]], already paves the way towards the [[symbolic]], since an [[imaginary]] element is circulated in much the same way a [[signifier]] (the [[phallus]] becomes an "[[imaginary]] [[signifier]]"). Thus [[Lacan]]'s formulations on the [[phallus|imaginary phallus]] in the [[seminar]] of 1956-7 are accompanied by statements that the [[phallus]] is also a [[symbolic]] [[object]]<ref>{{S4}} p. 152</ref> and that the [[phallus]] is a [[signifier]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 191</ref> The idea that the [[phallus]] is a [[signifier]] is taken up again and further developed in the 1957-8 [[seminar]] and becomes the [[principle ]] element of [[Lacan]]'s theory of the [[phallus]] thereafter; the [[phallus]] is described as "the [[signifier]] of the [[desire]] of the [[Other]]",<ref>{{E}} p. 290</ref> and the [[signifier]] of ''[[jouissance]]''.<ref>{{E}} p. 320</ref>

These arguments are stated in their most definitive form in [[Lacan]]'s paper on "[[The Signification of the Phallus]]".<ref>{{L}} "[[The Signification of the Phallus|La signification du phallus]]." ''[[Écrits]]''. [[Paris]]: Seuil, 1966 [1958c]: 685-95 ["[[The Signification of the Phallus|The signification of the phallus]]". Trans. [[Alan Sheridan]] ''[[Écrits: A Selection]]''. London: Tavistock, 1977; New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1977: 281-91].</ref><blockquote>The phallus is not a fantasy, if by that we mean an [[Imaginary]] effect. Nor is it as such an object (part--, [[internal]], [[good]], bad, etc.). It is even less the organ, penis or clitoris, that it [[symbolises]]. . . . The phallus is a signifier. . . . It is the signifier intended to designate as a [[whole]] the effects of the [[signified]].<ref>{{E}} p. 285</ref></blockquote>

These arguments are stated in their most definitive form in Whereas the [[LacanCastration complex]]'s paper on "and the [[The Signification of the PhallusOedipus complex]]".<ref>{{L}} "revolve around the [[The Signification of the Phallusphallus|La signification du imaginary phallus]]." '', the question of [[Écritssexual difference]]''. Paris: Seuil, 1966 [1958c]: 685-95 revolves around ["[[The Signification of the Phallusphallus|The signification of the symbolic phallus]]". Trans. The [[Alan Sheridanphallus]] ''has no corresponding [[Écrits: A Selection]woman|female]''. London: Tavistock, 1977; New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1977: 281-91].</ref><blockquote>The phallus is not a fantasy, if by that we mean an [[Imaginarysignifier]] effect. Nor is it as such an object (part-, internal, good, bad, etc.). It is even less ; "the organ, penis or clitoris, that it symbolises. . . . The phallus is a signifier. . . symbol to which there is no correspondent, no equivalent. It is the signifier intended to designate as 's a whole the effects matter of a dissymmetry in the signifiedsignifier.'"<ref>{{ES3}} p. 285176</ref></blockquote> Both [[sexual difference|male]] and [[sexual difference|female]] [[subject]]s assume their [[sexual difference|sex]] via the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]].

Whereas Unlike the [[Castration complexphallus|imaginary phallus]] and , the [[Oedipus complexphallus|symbolic phallus]] revolve around the cannot be [[phallusnegation|imaginary phallusnegated]], for on the [[symbolic]] plane an [[absence]] is just as much a positive entity as a [[presence]].<ref>{{E}} p. 320</ref> Thus even the question of [[sexual differencewoman]], who [[lack]] revolves around s the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]]in one way, can also be said to possess it, since not having it the [[symbolic]] is itself a form of having.<ref>{{S4}} p. The 153</ref> Conversely, the assumption of the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]] has no corresponding by the man is only possible on the basis of the prior assumption of his own [[woman|femalecastration]] . [[signifierLacan]]; "goes on in 1961 to state that the [[phallus|symbolic phallus ]] is a symbol to that which there is no correspondent, no equivalent. It's a matter appears in the place of the [[lack]] of a dissymmetry the [[signifier]] in the signifier[[Other]].'"<ref>{{S3S8}} p. 176278-81</ref> Both It is no ordinary [[sexual difference|malesignifier]] and but the [[sexual difference|femalereal]] [[subjectpresence]]s assume their of [[sexual difference|sexdesire]] via itself.<ref>{{S8}} p. 290</ref> In 1973 he states that the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]]is "the signifier which does not have a signified". ----<ref>{{S20}} p. 75</ref>

Unlike the The [[phallus|imaginary symbolic phallus]], the is written ф in [[phallus|symbolic phallusLacan]] cannot be ian [[negation|negatedalgebra]]. However, for on the [[symbolicLacan]] plane an warns his students that the complexity of this [[absencesymbol]] is just as much a positive entity as a might be missed if they simply identify it with the [[presencephallus|symbolic phallus]].<ref>{{ES8}} p. 320296</ref> Thus even the The [[womansymbol]], who is more correctly [[lackunderstood]]s as designating the "[[phallus|symbolic phallusphallic function]] in one way, can also be said to possess it, since not having it the [[symbolic]] is itself a form of having."<ref>{{S4S8}} p. 153298</ref> Conversely, In the assumption early 1970s [[Lacan]] incorporates this [[symbol]] of the [[phallus|symbolic phallusphallic function]] by the man is only possible on the basis of the prior assumption of in his own [[castrationsexual difference|formulae of sexuation]]. Using predicate [[Lacanlogic]] goes on in 1961 to state that articulate the problems of [[phallus|symbolic phallussexual difference]] is that which appears in the place of the , [[lackLacan]] of the devises two [[signifieralgebra|formulae]] in for the [[Othersexual difference|masculine position]].<ref>{{S8}} p. 278-81</ref> It is no ordinary and two [[signifieralgebra|formulae]] but for the [[realsexual difference|feminine position]] . All four [[presencealgebra|formulae]] of revolve around the [[desirephallus|phallic function]] itself.<ref>{{S8}} p. 290</ref> In 1973 he states that , which is here equivalent with the function of [[phallus|symbolic phalluscastration]] is "the signifier which does not have a signified".<ref>{{S20}} p. 75</ref>

The <!-- It is through the [[phallus|symbolic phallusintervention]] is written ф in of the [[LacanName]]ian -of-the-Father that the imaginary [[algebraunity]]between child and mother is broken. However, [[Lacan]] warns his students The father is assumed to possess something that the complexity of child lacks and it is this that the mother desires. It is important here though not to confuse the [[symbolName-of-the-Father]] might be missed if they simply identify it with the [[phallus|symbolic phallus]].<ref>{{S8}} pactual father. 296</ref> The Name-of-the-Father is a symbolic function that intrudes into the [[symbolillusory]] is more correctly understood as designating the "[[phallus|phallic functionworld]]of the child andbreaks the imaginary dyad of the mother and child."<ref>{{S8}} p. 298</ref> In The child assumes that the early 1970s father is one that [[Lacansatisfies]] incorporates the mother's desire and possesses the phallus. In this sense, argues Lacan, the Oedipus complex involves an element of [[symbolsubstitution]] , that is to say, the substitution of one signifier, the desire of the mother, for [[phallus|phallic functionanother]] in his [[sexual difference|formulae , the Name-of sexuation]]-the-Father. Using predicate logic to articulate It is through this initial act of substitution that the problems process of signification begins and child enters the [[sexual differencesymbolic order]], as a subject of lack. It is also for this [[Lacanreason]] devises two that Lacan describes the process of symbolization itself as 'phallic'. It is through the Name-of-the-Father that the phallus is installed as the central organizing signifier of the [[algebra|formulaeunconscious]] for . The phallus is the 'original' [[sexual difference|masculine positionlost object]] , but only insofar as no one possessed it in the first place. The phallus, therefore, is not like any other signifier, it is the signifier of absence and two does not '[[algebra|formulaeexist]] for the ' in its own [[sexual difference|feminine positionright]]. All four [[algebra|formulae]] revolve around the as a [[phallus|phallic functionthing]], which is here equivalent with the function of an object or a [[castrationbodily]]organ. Let us look at this more closely.-->

<!-- Lacan equates the process of giving up the imaginary phallus with Freud's account of [[castration anxiety]], but he argues that the process of castration in Freud is more complicated than [[people]] generally [[think]]. Castration involves not just an anxiety [[about]] losing one's penis but simultaneously the recognition of lack or absence . The child is concerned about losing its own penis and simultaneously recognizes that the mother does not have a penis. The idea of the penis, therefore, becomes metonymically linked to the recognition of lack . It is in this sense that Lacan argues that the phallus is not simply the penis; it is the penis plus the recognition of absence or lack . Castration is not the [[fear]] that one has already lost, in the case of girls, or will lose, in the case of boys, one's penis but rather the symbolic process of giving up the idea that one can be the phallus for the mother. The intervention of the father distances the child from the mother and also places the phallus forever beyond its reach. If the symbolic father is seen to possess the phallus, then the child can only become a subject itself in the symbolic order by renouncing the imaginary phallus. The problem for Lacan is how does one symbolically represent 'lack' - something that by definition is not there? His solution is the idea of the '[[veil]]'. The presence of the veil suggests that there is an object behind it, which the veil covers over, although this is only a presumption on the part of the subject. In this way the veil enables the perpetuation of the idea that the object [[exists]]. Thus, both boys and girls can have a relationship to the phallus on the basis that it always remains veiled and out of reach. The phallus provides the vital link between --><!-- ==Phallic Jouissance== In his seminar on [[female]] sexuality (1998), Lacan further specified what he meant by the term "[[phallic jouissance]]." He used the phallic signifier (Φ) in [[writing]] his "[[formulas]] of [[sexuation]]," which posit that every human being has to be on one side or the other of the sexual [[divide]]. A woman always has something of the phallus (she is not entirely [[castrated]]), and the man is only supposed to "have" the phallus when he fantasizes his castration. In Lacan's symbolic notation, the phallus takes on the [[formal]] role of a [[supplement]], which adds to the castration complex the fact that "there is no sexual relation," as Lacan said, referring to the [[impossibility]] of writing an equation of the relationship between the sexes. --><!-- ===Criticisms of Lacan===Of all [[Lacan]]'s [[ideas]], his concept of the [[phallus]] is perhaps the one which has given rise to most controversy. Objections to [[Lacan]]'s concept fall into two main groups.

Firstly, some [[feminist ]] writers have argued that the privileged position [[Lacan]] accords to the [[phallus]] means that he merely repeats the patriarchal gestures of [[Freud]] (e.g. Grosz, 1990). Other feminists have defended [[Lacan]], arguing that his distinction between the [[phallus]] and the [[phallus|penis]] provides a way of accounting for [[sexual difference]] which is irreducible to [[biology]] (e.g. Mitchell and Rose, 1982).

The second main objection to [[Lacan]]'s concept of the [[phallus]] is that put forward by [[Jacques Derrida]].<ref>Derrida, Jacques. (1975) "Le facteur de la vérité." ''The Post Card: From [[Socrates ]] to Freud and Beyond''. Trans. Alan Bass, Chicago and London: [[University ]] of Chicago Press, 1987 [1975]: 413-96</ref> and echoed by [[others]]. [[Derrida]] argues that, despite [[Lacan]]'s protestations of anti-transcendentalism, the [[phallus]] operates as a [[transcendental ]] element which [[acts ]] as an [[ideal ]] [[guarantee ]] of [[meaning]]. How can there be such a thing as a "privileged signifier", asks [[Derrida]], given that every [[signifier]] is defined only by its differences from other [[signifier]]s? The [[phallus]], in other [[words]], reintroduces the [[metaphysics ]] of [[presence]] which [[Derrida]] denominates as [[logocentrism]], and thus [[Derrida]] concludes that, by articulating this with [[phallocentrism]], [[Lacan]] has created a [[phallocentrism|phallogocentric system of thought]].-->

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