Changes

[[Sexual differenceFreud]] refers to recognition by the child speaks only of the difference of [[biology|anatomical ''distinction'']] between the [[sexes]] and its [[psychical]] consequences. This recognition is related to <ref>[[Freud|Freud, Sigmund]]. "The [[Dissolution]] of the Oedipus complex and the castration complex[[Complex]]." SE XIX, 183. 1925.</ref>

In 1908 (1908c) Sigmund Freud presented for the first time the notion [[Lacan]] speaks of the castration complex, centered on fantasies of castration [[sexual position|sexual ''position'']] and closely linked to the drives. Through this complex, whose framework is the "theory of infantile sexuality," the child is able to acknowledge [[sexual relationship|sexual difference. In the same text Freud indicated that before the question of castration becomes important for the child, the child is capable, through the use of external signs''relationship'']], of making a (gender) distinction between men and women. Of its own initiative, the child will develop a sense occasionally of gender identity—male or female. This distinction is not dependent on the drives or the genitals. It is only with the "primacy ''differentiation'' of the phallus" (1923e) that the genital organ will be taken into account for both sexes, based on the presence or absence of the male genital organ. It is this awareness that leads to the question of castration. Moreover, it is through identification with the father and mother during the oedipal period that the child acquires the symbolic cues for masculine and feminine, whose dynamic will not be completed until adolescence. At that time, the material reality of the penis-vagina duality will replace the apparent reality of the phallus-missing phallus duality<ref>{{S4}} p.154</ref>

By separating penis and phallus However, both [[Freud]] and emphasizing symbolic castration, an operation though which the subject is formed, Jacques [[Lacan provides a very different interpretation for ]] address the castration complexquestion of [[sexual difference]], which now becomes dependent on phallic logic. If human sexuality is immediately subverted by language and if "the imaginary function an entry has been included for this term because it brings together an import set of the phallus completes the challenge to sexuality through the castration complex related themes in both sexes" (1958)[[Lacan]]'s [[work]], then understanding what differentiates the sexes becomes problematic. and because it constitutes an important focus for [[feminist]] approaches to [[Lacan then developed his idea of sexuation—a term borrowed from biology—to show the subject]]'s modes of inscription in the phallic function. This refers to the way in which both sexes recognize and differentiate themselves in the unconscious[[Lacan|work]].

Since ==Freud recognized that his description related only to boys and for Lacan the relation to the phallus "was established without regard for the anatomical difference on Sexual Difference==One of the sexes," we basic presuppositions underlying [[Freud]]'s work is that just as there are led to the conclusion that psychoanalytic theory on sexual difference certain [[physical]] differences between [[men]] and[[women]], in particular, on what a woman is, remains highly incompleteso also there are psychical differences.

FinallyIn other [[words]], it is important to point out there are certain psychical characteristics that sexual difference, which enables the subject to relate to its own anatomical sex can be called '[[masculine]]' and position itself as man or woman, introduces important questions in psychoanalysis, as important as the problematic of identification/identity[[others]] that can be called '[[feminine]].'

The phrase 'sexual difference'[[whole]] process revolves around the [[castration complex]], in which has come into prominence in the debate between psychoanalysis [[masculinity|boy]] fears [[being]] deprived of his [[penis]] and feminismthe [[femininity|girl]], is not part assuming that she has already been deprived of Freud's or Lacan's theoretical vocabularyhers, develops [[penis envy]]. Freud speaks only of the anatomical distinction between the sexes and its psychical consequences.<ref> (Freud, 1925d)</ref>

==Lacan speaks of sexual position and the sexual relationshipon Sexual Difference==Following [[Freud]], and occasionally of [[Lacan]] also engages with the differentiation problem of how the sexeshuman [[infant]] becomes a [[sexed subject]].<ref> (S4, 153)</ref> However, both Freud and Lacan address the question of sexual difference, and an entry has been included for this term because it brings together an important set of related themes in Lacan's work, and because it constitutes an important focus for feminist approaches to Lacan's work.<ref> (see Brennan, 1989; Gallop, 1982; Grosz, 1990; Mitchell and Rose, 1982)</ref>

One of the basic presuppositions underlying Freud's work is that just as there are certain physical differences between men For [[Lacan]], [[masculinity]] and women, so also there [[femininity]] are psychical differences. In other wordsnot [[biological]] essences but [[symbolic position]]s, there are certain psychical characteristics that can be called 'masculine' and others that can be called 'feminine'.Rather than trying to give any formal defmition the assumption of one of these terms (an impossible task),<ref> - Freud, 1920a: SE XVIII, 17 l</ref> Freud limits himself two positions is fundamental to describing how a human the [[construction]] of [[subjectivity]]; the [[subject comes to acquire masculine or feminine psychical characteristics. This ]] is not an instinctual or natural process, but essentially a complex one in which anatomical differences interact with social and psychical factors. The whole process revolves around the [[Castration Complexsexed subject]], in which the boy fears being deprived of his penis and the girl, assuming that she has already been deprived of hers, develops penis envy.

Following Freud, Lacan also engages with the problem of how the human infant becomes a sexed subject. For Lacan, masculinity and femininity are not biological essences but "[[SymbolicMan]] positions, and the assumption of one of these two positions is fundamental to the construction of subjectivity; the subject is essentially a sexed subject. 'Man' " and '"[[Womanwoman]]' " are signifiers [[signifier]]s that stand for these two [[subjective positionsposition]]s.<ref>({{S20, }} p.34)</ref>

==Becoming a Sexed Subject==For both [[Freud ]] and [[Lacan]], the [[child ]] is at first ignorant of [[sexual difference ]] and so cannot take up a sexual position. It is only when the child discovers sexual difference in the [[Castration Complex]] that he can begin to take up a sexual position. Both Freud and 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. For Freud, the subject's sexual position is determined by the sex of the parent with whom the subject identifies in the Oedipus complex (if the subject identifies with the father, he takes up a masculine position; identification with the mother entails the assumption of a feminine position).

For Lacan, however, the Oedipus complex always involves [[Symbolic]] identification with the Father, and hence Oedipal identification cannot determine sexual position. According to Lacan, then, it It is not identification but the subject's relationship with the [[Phallus]] which determines sexual position.This relationship can either be one of 'having' or 'not having'; men have only when the child discovers [[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 [[Symbolic]] act, and the difference between the sexes can only be conceived of on the [[Symbolic]] plane.<ref> (S4, 153)</ref>It is insofar as the function of man and [[Woman]] is symbolized, it is insofar as it's literally uprooted from the domain of the [[Imaginary]] and situated in the domain of the [[Symboliccastration complex]], that any normal, completed sexual position is realized.<ref> (S3, 177)<.ref>However, there is no signifier of sexual difference as such which would permit the subject he can begin to fully symbolise the function of man and take up a [[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.<ref> (S3, 178)</ref>

Although the anatomy/Both [[biologyFreud]] 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 [[Lacan]] see this reproductive function is not represented. Given the non-representation process of the reproductive function of sexuality in the unconscious, 'in the psyche there is nothing by which the subject may situate himself as taking up a male or female being'.<ref> (S11, 204)</ref> There is no signifier of sexual difference in the [[Symbolicsexual]] order. The only sexual signifier is position as closely connected with the phallus, and there is no 'female' equivalent of this signifier: 'strictly speaking there is no symbolization of [[WomanOedipus complex]]'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'.<ref> (S3, 176)</ref> Hence the phallus is 'the pivot which completes in both sexes the questioning of their sex by but they differ on the precise [[Castration Complexnature]]'of the connection.<ref> (E, 198)</ref>

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 sexFor [[Freud]], the female [[subject desires the parent of the same sex and ]]'s [[sexual position]] is required to take determined by the image sex of the other sex as parent with whom the basis of its identification'.<ref> (S3, 176)</ref> 'For a [[Womansubject]] [[identifies]] the realization of her sex is not accomplished in the [[Oedipus complex in a way symmetrical to that of ]] (if the man's, not by identification [[subject]] [[identifies]] with the mother, but on the contrary by identification with the paternal object, which assigns her an extra detour'.<ref>(S3, 172)</ref>'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'.<ref> (S3, 176)</ref>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.<ref> (Sll, 192)</ref> 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.<ref>(Sll[[father]], 204)</ref> This is why the question of what one is to do as a man or he takes up a [[Womanmasculine]] is a drama which is situated entirely in the field of the Other (Sll, 204), which is to say that the subject can only [[Realposition]]ise his sexuality on the ; [[Symbolicidentification]] level.<ref> (S3, 170)</ref>In with the seminar of 1970-1 Lacan tries to formalise his theory of sexual difference by means of formulae derived from [[Symbolicmother]] logic. These reappear in entails the diagram of sexual difference which Lacan presents in the 1972-3 seminar.<ref> (Figurel6, taken from S20, 73)</ref> The diagram is divided into two sides: 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 assumption of a [[womanfeminine]] (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'.<ref>(Copjec, 1994: 27)</ref> However, there is no symmetry between the two sides (no sexual relationship); each side represents a radically different way in which the [[sexual relationshipposition]] can misfire).<ref> (S20, 53-4)</ref>

<blockquote>It is insofar as the function of man and woman 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 realized.<ref>{{S3}} p.177</ref></blockquote> ==="Am I a man or a woman?"= def ==Lacan’s formalization However, there is no [[signifier]] of [[sexual difference in his famous ]] as such which would permit the [[subject]] to fully [[symbolize]] the function of [[man]] and [[woman]], and hence it is [[impossible]] to attain a fully "formulas of sexuationnormal,finished sexual position." presented by means  The [[subject]]'s sexual [[identity]] is thus always a rather precarious matter, a source of an idiosyncratic usage perpetual [[self]]-questioning. The question of mathematical symbols derived from symbolic logic one's own sex ("Am I a man or a woman?") is a question which defines [[hysteria]]. The mysterious "other sex" is always the [[woman]], for both men and set theorywomen, attempts to distill Freud’s efforts to distinguish and therefore the girl’s experience question of castration from the boy’s[[hysteric]] ("What is a woman?") is the same for both male and female [[hysterics]]. In  ===No Signifier of Sexual Difference in the Symbolic Order===Although the anatomy/[[biology]] of the [[subject]] plays a part in the first logical moment question of masculine sexuationwhich sexual position the [[subject]] will take up, an exception to it is a fundamental axiom in [[psychoanalytic]] [[theory]] that anatomy does not determine sexual position. There is a rupture between the phallic function—Lacan’s term [[biological]] aspect of [[sexual difference]] (for example at the interdiction level of castration—is posited, the chromosomes) which is then followed by a contradictory assertion related to the [[reproductive]] function of sexuality, and the function’s universality. Though abstracted beyond immediate recognition[[unconscious]], it in which this reproductive function is possible to discern here not represented. Given the non-[[representation]] of the logic reproductive function of sexuality in the Freudian primal father[[unconscious]], who lives "in the masculine subject’s fantasy pysche there is [[nothing]] by which the subject may situate himself as a male or female being."<ref>{{S11}} p.204</ref> There is no [[signifier]] of [[sexual difference]] in the exception that proves [[symbolic order]]. The only sexual signifier is the universal rule [[phallus]], and there is no "female" equivalent of this signifier: <blockquote>"Strictly [[speaking]] there is no [[symbolization]] of castrationwoman's sex as such... In the first logical moment of feminine castration, in contrast, it phallus is asserted that a symbol to which there are is no correspondent, no exceptions to equivalent. It's a matter of a dissymetry in the phallic functionsignifier."<ref>{{S3}} p. But there then follows 176</ref></blockquote> Hence the notion that [[phallus]] is "not-allthe pivot which completes ''in both sexes'' the questioning of their sex by the [[castration]] complex." elements <ref>{{E}} p.198</ref> ===Dyammetry between Men and Woman===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]] [[desire]]s the parent of the feminine subject, elements Lacan represents other sex and [[identifies]] with the symbol designating the negation parent of the universal quantifiersame sex, are the [[female]] [[subject ]] [[desire]]s the parent of the same sex and "is required to take the [[image]] of the other sex as the rule basis of castrationits identification. This is the background to Lacan’s controversial assertion that women are "pas-toute<ref>{{S3}} p.176</ref> <blockquote>" Though numerous feminists, including luce irigaray, have attacked this claim as a rationalization for what they see as women’s secondary status within For a patriarchal socio-symbolic order, others have argued that woman the implication realization of Lacan’s assertion her sex is simply that women, or more precisely feminine subjects, do not avail themselves to categorization. Whereas masculine subjects routinely abstract themselves accomplished in the Oedipus complex in such a way symmetrical to that they constitute a whole paradoxically unified of the man's, not by identification with the mother, but on the exception embodied contrary by identification with the primal father fantasy (a masculine subjectpaternal [[object]], in colloquial terms, can be which assigns her an extra detour."<ref>{{S3}} p.172</ref></blockquote> <blockquote>"just one of This signifying dissymmetry determines the paths down which 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 herselfOedipus complex will [[pass]]. The implications of Lacan’s suggestive and ofttwo paths make [[them]] both pass down the same trail -misunderstood theory of sexual difference for feminism and the theory trail of sexuality have still to find their full elaborationcastration."<ref>{{S3}} p. One thing176</ref></blockquote> ===Opposition Masculine-Feminine===If, howeverthen, remains clear. For Lacanthere is no [[symbol]] for the opposition [[masculine]]-[[feminine]] as such, sex emerges as an impasse resulting from the impossibility of representing only way to [[understand]] [[sexual difference symbolically and therefore ]] is in terms of establishing sexual identitiesthe opposition [[activity]]-[[passivity]].<ref>{{S11}} p. In contrast to 192</ref> This polarity is the Anglo-American ideology of "gender," then, only way in which upholds the idea that masculinity and femininity are socially preestablished meanings that may never be fully embodied, sex, opposition [[male]]-[[female]] is represented in the Lacanian view[[psyche]], refers instead to since the impossibility of sexual meanings themselves, [[biological]] function of sexuality (reproduction) is not represented.<ref>{{S11}} p.204</ref> This is why the frustration question of every attempt what one is to define sexual difference do as a [[man]] or a [[woman]] is a drama which is situated entirely in positive terms, and therefore the field of the unforgiving resistance with [[Other]],<ref>{{S11}} p.204</ref> which is to say that the subject can only realize his [[sexuality necessarily thwarts ]] on the ambitions of our conscious intentions[[symbolic]] level.<ref>{{S3}} p.170</ref>

||* [[Sexuality]] * [[Sexual Relationship]]{{Also}}

</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). SE, 19: 141-145.# [[Lacan, Jacques]]. (1966). "''La [[signification ]] du phallus (Die [[Bedeutung ]] des Phallus)''." [[Écrits, ]]. 685-695. [[Paris]]: Le Seuil. (Original work published 1958)