sexual difference [[Image:Graph.of.Sexuation.jpg|thumb|right]]The phrase '"[[sexual difference']]", which has come intoprominence in the debate between [[psychoanalysis]] and [[feminism]], is not part of [[Freud]]'s or [[Lacan]]'s [[psychoanalytic theory|theoretical]] [[:Category:Terms|vocabulary]].
prominence in [[Freud]] speaks only of the debate [[biology|anatomical ''distinction'']] between psychoanalysis the [[sexes]] and feminismits [[psychical]] consequences.<ref>[[Freud|Freud, is not part Sigmund]]. "The [[Dissolution]] ofthe Oedipus [[Complex]]." SE XIX, 183. 1925.</ref>
Freud[[Lacan]] speaks of [[sexual position|sexual ''position'']] and the [[sexual relationship|sexual ''relationship'']], and occasionally of the ''differentiation's or Lacan's theoretical vocabulary. Freud speaks only of the anatomicalsexes.<ref>{{S4}} p.154</ref>
distinction between However, both [[Freud]] and [[Lacan]] address the sexes question of [[sexual difference]], and its psychical consequences (Freudan entry has been included for this term because it brings together an import set of related themes in [[Lacan]]'s [[work]], 1925d);and because it constitutes an important focus for [[feminist]] approaches to [[Lacan]]'s [[Lacan|work]].
Lacan speaks ==Freud on Sexual Difference==One of sexual position the basic presuppositions underlying [[Freud]]'s work is that just as there are certain [[physical]] differences between [[men]] and the sexual relationship[[women]], and occasionallyso also there are psychical differences.
of the differentiation of the sexes (S4In other [[words]], 153)there are certain psychical characteristics that can be called '[[masculine]]' and [[others]] that can be called '[[feminine]]. However, both Freud and Lacan'
address the question Rather than trying to give any [[formal]] definition of sexual differencethese [[terms]], and an entry has been included for[[Freud]] limits himself to describing how a [[human]] [[subject]] comes to acquire [[masculine]] or [[feminine]] psychical characteristics.
this term because it brings together This is not an important set of related themes [[instinct]]ual or [[nature|natural]] [[process]], but a complex one inwhich [[anatomical]] differences interact with [[social]] and psychical factors.
Lacan's workThe [[whole]] process revolves around the [[castration complex]], in which the [[masculinity|boy]] fears [[being]] deprived of his [[penis]] and because it constitutes an important focus for feministthe [[femininity|girl]], assuming that she has already been deprived of hers, develops [[penis envy]].
approaches to ==Lacan's work (see Brennanon Sexual Difference==Following [[Freud]], 1989; Gallop, 1982; Grosz, 1990;[[Lacan]] also engages with the problem of how the human [[infant]] becomes a [[sexed subject]].
Mitchell For [[Lacan]], [[masculinity]] and Rose[[femininity]] are not [[biological]] essences but [[symbolic position]]s, 1982)and the assumption of one of these two positions is fundamental to the [[construction]] of [[subjectivity]]; the [[subject]] is essentially a [[sexed subject]].
One of the basic presuppositions underlying Freud'"[[Man]]" and "[[woman]]" are [[signifier]]s work is that just asstand for these two [[subjective position]]s.<ref>{{S20}} p.34</ref>
there are certain physical differences between men ==Becoming a Sexed Subject==For both [[Freud]] and women[[Lacan]], the [[child]] is at first ignorant of [[sexual difference]] and so also therecannot take up a [[sexual position]].
are psychical differencesIt is only when the child discovers [[sexual difference]] in the [[castration complex]] that he can begin to take up a [[sexual position]]. In other words, there are certain psychical character-
istics that can be called 'masculine' Both [[Freud]] and others that can be called 'feminine'[[Lacan]] see this process of taking up a [[sexual]] position as closely connected with the [[Oedipus complex]], but they differ on the precise [[nature]] of the connection.
Rather than trying to give any formal defmition For [[Freud]], the [[subject]]'s [[sexual position]] is determined by the sex of these terms the parent with whom the [[subject]] [[identifies]] in the [[Oedipus complex]] (an impossibleif the [[subject]] [[identifies]] with the [[father]], he takes up a [[masculine]] [[position]]; [[identification]] with the [[mother]] entails the assumption of a [[feminine]] [[position]]).
task - FreudFor [[Lacan]], 1920a: SE XVIIIhowever, 17 l)the [[Oedipus complex]] always involves a [[symbolic]] [[identification]] with the [[Father]], Freud limits himself to describing how aand hence [[Oedipus]] [[identification]] cannot determine [[sexual position]].
human According to [[Lacan]], then, it is not [[identification]] but the [[subject comes to acquire masculine or feminine psychical character-]]'s [[relationship]] with the [[phallus]] which determines [[sexual position]].
istics. ==="Having" or "Not Having" the Phallus===This is relationship can either be one of "having" or "not an instinctual having"; [[men]] have the [[symbolic]] [[phallus]], and [[women]] don't (or natural process, but a complex one in whichto be more precise, [[men]] are "not without having it" [''ils ne sont pas sans l'avoir'']).
anatomical differences interact with social The assumption of a sexual position is fundamental a symbolic act, and psychical factorsthe [[difference]] between the sexes can only be conceived of on [[the symbolic]] plane. The whole<ref>{{S4}} p.153</ref>
process revolves around <blockquote>It is insofar as the function of man and woman is [[CASTRATION COMPLEXsymbolized]], it is insofar as it's literally uprooted from the [[domain]] of the [[imaginary]] and situated in which the boy fears beingdomain of the symbolic, that any normal, completed sexual position is realized.<ref>{{S3}} p.177</ref></blockquote>
deprived ==="Am I a man or a woman?"===However, there is no [[signifier]] of [[sexual difference]] as such which would permit the [[subject]] to fully [[symbolize]] the function of his penis [[man]] and the girl[[woman]], and hence it is [[impossible]] to attain a fully "normal, assuming that she has already been deprivedfinished sexual position."
The [[subject]]'s sexual [[identity]] is thus always a rather precarious matter, a source of hers, develops penis envyperpetual [[self]]-questioning.
Following Freud, Lacan also engages with the problem The question of how the humanone's own sex ("Am I a man or a woman?") is a question which defines [[hysteria]].
infant becomes The mysterious "other sex" is always the [[woman]], for both men and women, and therefore the question of the [[hysteric]] ("What is a sexed subjectwoman?") is the same for both male and female [[hysterics]]. For Lacan, masculinity and femininity are not
biological essences but ===No Signifier of Sexual Difference in the Symbolic Order===Although the anatomy/[[biology]] of the [[Symbolicsubject]] positions, and plays a part in the assumption question of one of thesewhich sexual position the [[subject]] will take up, it is a fundamental axiom in [[psychoanalytic]] [[theory]] that anatomy does not determine sexual position.
two positions There is fundamental a rupture between the [[biological]] aspect of [[sexual difference]] (for example at the level of the chromosomes) which is related to the construction [[reproductive]] function of subjectivity; sexuality, and the subject [[unconscious]], in which this reproductive function isnot represented.
essentially a sexed subject. 'Man' and 'Given the non-[[representation]] of the reproductive function of sexuality in the [[unconscious]], "in the pysche there is [[Womannothing]]' are signifiers that stand forby which the subject may situate himself as a male or female being."<ref>{{S11}} p.204</ref>
these two subjective positions(S20, 34)There is no [[signifier]] of [[sexual difference]] in the [[symbolic order]].
For both Freud The only sexual signifier is the [[phallus]], and Lacan, the child there is at first ignorant no "female" equivalent of sexual difference andthis signifier:
so cannot take up <blockquote>"Strictly [[speaking]] there is no [[symbolization]] of woman's sex as such... the phallus is a sexual positionsymbol to which there is no correspondent, no equivalent. It is only when 's a matter of a dissymetry in the child discovers sexualsignifier."<ref>{{S3}} p.176</ref></blockquote>
difference Hence the [[phallus]] is "the pivot which completes ''in both sexes'' the questioning of their sex by the [[Castration Complexcastration]] that he can begin to take up a sexualcomplex."<ref>{{E}} p.198</ref>
position. Both Freud ===Dyammetry between Men and Lacan see Woman===It is this process of taking up a sexual positionfundamental dissymmetry in the [[signifier]] which leads to the dissymmetry between the [[Oedipus complex]] in men and women.
as closely connected Whereas the [[male]] [[subject]] [[desire]]s the parent of the other sex and [[identifies]] with the OEDIPUS COMPLExparent of the same sex, but they differ on the precise[[female]] [[subject]] [[desire]]s the parent of the same sex and "is required to take the [[image]] of the other sex as the basis of its identification."<ref>{{S3}} p.176</ref>
nature <blockquote>"For a woman the realization of her sex is not accomplished in the connection. For Freud, Oedipus complex in a way symmetrical to that of the subjectman's sexual position is determined, not by identification with the mother, but on the contrary by identification with the paternal [[object]], which assigns her an extra detour."<ref>{{S3}} p.172</ref></blockquote>
by <blockquote>"This signifying dissymmetry determines the sex of paths down which the parent with whom Oedipus complex will [[pass]]. The two paths make [[them]] both pass down the subject identifies in same trail - the Oedipus complextrail of castration."<ref>{{S3}} p.176</ref></blockquote>
(if ===Opposition Masculine-Feminine===If, then, there is no [[symbol]] for the subject identifies with opposition [[masculine]]-[[feminine]] as such, the father, he takes up a masculine position;only way to [[understand]] [[sexual difference]] is in terms of the opposition [[activity]]-[[passivity]].<ref>{{S11}} p.192</ref>
identification with This polarity is the mother entails only way in which the assumption opposition [[male]]-[[female]] is represented in the [[psyche]], since the [[biological]] function of a feminine positionsexuality (reproduction)is not represented.<ref>{{S11}} p.204</ref>
For Lacan, howeverThis is why the question of what one is to do as a [[man]] or a [[woman]] is a drama which is situated entirely in the field of the [[Other]], <ref>{{S11}} p.204</ref> which is to say that the subject can only realize his [[sexuality]] on the Oedipus complex always involves [[Symbolicsymbolic]] identifica-level.<ref>{{S3}} p.170</ref>
tion with the Father, and hence Oedipal identification cannot determine sexual==See Also=={{See}}* [[Oedipus complex]] * [[Phallus]] ||* [[Sexuality]]* [[Sexual Relationship]]{{Also}}
position==References==<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small"><references/></div># [[Freud|Freud, Sigmund]]. (1908c). On the sexual theories of [[children]]. SE, 9: 205-226.# ——. (1923e). The [[infantile]] [[genital]] organization (An interpolation into the theory of sexuality). According to SE, 19: 141-145.# [[Lacan, then, it is not identification but the subjectJacques]]. (1966). "''La [[signification]] du phallus (Die [[Bedeutung]] des Phallus)''s." [[Écrits]]. 685-695. [[Paris]]: Le Seuil. (Original work published 1958)
relationship with the [[PhallusCategory:Psychoanalysis]] which determines sexual position. This relationship can either be one of 'having' or 'not having'; men have the [[Symbolic]] phallus, and women don't (or, to be more precise, men are 'not without having it' [ils ne sont pas sans l'avoir]). The assumption of a sexual position is fundamentally a [[SymbolicCategory:Jacques Lacan]] act, and the difference between the sexes can only be conceived of on the [[Symbolic]] plane (S4, 153)Category: It is insofar as the function of man and [[WomanDictionary]] is symbolized, it is insofar as it's literally uprooted from the domain of the [[Imaginary]] and situated in the domain of the [[Symbolic]], that any normal, completed sexual position is [[Real]]ized. (S3, 177) However, there is no signifier of sexual difference as such which would permit the subject to fully symbolise the function of man and [[Woman]], and hence it is impossible to attain a fully 'normal, finished sexual position'. The subject's sexual identity is thus always a rather precarious matter, a source of perpetual self-questioning. The question of one's own sex ('Am I a man or a [[Woman]]?') is the question which defineS HYSTERIA. The mysterious 'other sex' is always the [[Woman]], for both men and women, and therefore the question of the hysteric ('What is a [[Woman]]?') is the same for both male and female hysterics (S3, 178). Although the anatomy/BIOLOGY Of the subject plays a part in the question of which sexual position the subject will take up, it is a fundamental axiom in psychoanalytic theory that anatomy does not determine sexual position. There is a rupture between the biological aspect of sexual difference (for example at the level of the chromosomes) which is related to the reproductive function of sexuality, and the unconscious, in which this reproductive function is not represented. Given the non-representation of the reproductive function of sexuality in the unconscious, 'in the psyche there is nothing by which the subject may situate himself as a male or female being' (S11, 204). There is no signifier of sexual difference in the [[Symbolic]] order. The only sexual signifier is the phallus, and there is no 'female' equivalent of this signifierCategory: 'strictly speaking there is no symbolization of [[WomanSexuality]]'s sex as such . . . the phallus is a symbol to which there is no correspondent, no equivalent. It's a matter of a dissymmetry in the signifier' (S3, 176). Hence the phallus is 'the pivot which completes in both sexes the questioning of their sex by the [[Castration Complex]]' (E, 198). It is this fundamental dissymmetry in the signifier which leads to the dissymmetry between the Oedipus complex in men and women. Whereas the male subject desires the parent of the other sex and identifies with the parent of the same sex, the female subject desires the parent of the same sex and 'is required to take the image of the other sex as the basis of its identification' (S3, 176). 'For a [[Woman]] the [[Real]]ization of her sex is not accomplished in the Oedipus complex in a way symmetrical to that of the man's, not by identification with the mother, but on the contrary by identifica- tion with the paternal object, which assigns her an extra detour' (S3, 172). 'This signifying dissymmetry determines the paths down which the Oedipus complex will pass. The two paths make them both pass down the same trail - the trail of castration' (S3, 176). If, then, there is no symbol for the opposition masculine-feminine as such, the only way to understand sexual difference is in terms of the opposition activity-passivity (Sll, 192). This polarity is the only way in which the opposition male-female is represented in the psyche, since the biological function of sexuality (reproduction) is not represented (Sll, 204). This is why the question of what one is to do as a man or a [[Woman]] is a drama which is situated entirely in the field of the Other (Sll, 204), which is to say that the subject can only [[Real]]ise his sexuality on the [[Symbolic]] level (S3, 170). In the seminar of 1970-1 Lacan tries to formalise his theory of sexual difference by means of formulae derived from [[Symbolic]] logic. These reappear in the diagram of sexual difference which Lacan presents in the 1972-3 seminar (Figurel6, taken from S20, 73). The diagram is divided into two sidesCategory: on the left, the male side, and on the right, the female side. The formulae of sexuation appear at the top of the diagram. Thus the formulae on the male side are Exæ (= there is at least one x which is not submitted to the phallic function) and Vx¢x (= for all x, the phallic function is valid). The formulae on the female side are Exæ (= there is not one x which is not submitted to the phallic function) and TGx (= for not all x, the phallic function is valid). The last formula illustrates the relationship of [[WOMANNew]] (O the logic of the not-all. What is most striking is that the two propositions on each side of the diagram seem to contradict each other: 'each side is defined by both an affirmation and a negation of the phallic function, an inclusion and exclusion of absolute (non-phallic) jouissance' (Copjec, 1994: 27). However, there is no symmetry between the two sides (no sexual relationship); each side represents a radically different way in which the SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP CAD misfire (S20, 53-4). == def ==Lacan’s formalization of sexual difference in his famous "formulas of sexuation," presented by means of an idiosyncratic usage of mathematical symbols derived from symbolic logic and set theory, attempts to distill Freud’s efforts to distinguish the girl’s experience of castration from the boy’s. In the first logical moment of masculine sexuation, an exception to the phallic function—Lacan’s term for the interdiction of castration—is posited, which is then followed by a contradictory assertion of the function’s universality. Though abstracted beyond immediate recognition, it is possible to discern here the logic of the Freudian primal father, who lives in the masculine subject’s fantasy as the exception that proves the universal rule of castration. In the first logical moment of feminine castration, in contrast, it is asserted that there are no exceptions to the phallic function. But there then follows the notion that "not-all" elements of the feminine subject, elements Lacan represents with the symbol designating the negation of the universal quantifier, are subject to the rule of castration. This is the background to Lacan’s controversial assertion that women are "pas-toute." Though numerous feminists, including luce irigaray, have attacked this claim as a rationalization for what they see as women’s secondary status within a patriarchal socio-symbolic order, others have argued that the implication of Lacan’s assertion is simply that women, or more precisely feminine subjects, do not avail themselves to categorization. Whereas masculine subjects routinely abstract themselves in such a way that they constitute a whole paradoxically unified by the exception embodied by the primal father fantasy (a masculine subject, in colloquial terms, can be "just one of the guys"), feminine subjects, so it appears, feature an irreducible element of singularity, one resistant to counting, that renders each of them, one might say, a world unto herself. The implications of Lacan’s suggestive and oft-misunderstood theory of sexual difference for feminism and the theory of sexuality have still to find their full elaboration. One thing, however, remains clear. For Lacan, sex emerges as an impasse resulting from the impossibility of representing sexual difference symbolically and therefore of establishing sexual identities. In contrast to the Anglo-American ideology of "gender," then, which upholds the idea that masculinity and femininity are socially preestablished meanings that may never be fully embodied, sex, in the Lacanian view, refers instead to the impossibility of sexual meanings themselves, of the frustration of every attempt to define sexual difference in positive terms, and therefore of the unforgiving resistance with which sexuality necessarily thwarts the ambitions of our conscious intentions.
