Feminism Vs Freud (Week 3)

When people think of the word feminism these days, they often beginning to get scared and not know what to think. It’s one of those terms that has been defined in multiple different ways, and that give the stereotype of a feminist in different ways. Some believe that feminist want more for woman than man, that they deserve to have more and be superior to the men species. Yet that isn’t what the true definition of a feminist is. Feminists just want equality in life. Not more pay than men, but equal pay for the same job. Not more benefits, but the same benefits as male colleges. Freud had many opinions on females, and many of them discriminating. Freud thought women were only good for their sexual reproductive organs, and nothing more. He thought that feminism was overrated and made sure to exclaim it in every piece he wrote, or had others write. Over the years there have been many obstacles that women have had to overcome, and having one of the most famous psychologist stating women are only object, is one of them. There is so much that has been said about this over the years, and yet it is still an issue in modern society. In Lynne Segal’s, “Cautionary Tales: Between Freud and Feminism” she states, “The one constant seems to be that neither side ever lets go: even when apart … they [are] always somewhere … on each other’s mind”(62). It’s true when you think about the impact that feminism had on Freud and what Freud said affected the feminists. Two different type of people fighting for the opposite thing, of course they are going to talk about it and think about it because they are fighting for the exactly opposite result. But Lynne also asks an important question stating, “… why has Freud’s legacy, at least since the 1930s, provided such a powerful resource for the voices of conservative moralizing and prescriptiveness about sexual difference and women’s place, servicing them still today”(62)? Why are people still thinking that a woman belongs in the kitchen and shouldn’t have a voice? There is so much that has been accomplished by women, it is hard to believe that some still consider women a minority in society. This can be taken back to the way Hollywood portrays women in movies and films. How when women are in movies their roles aren’t the lead, and how in most cases a man has to come rescue the distressed woman from being kidnapped. Women are still seen as the weak link, and that we need a man in our live to be able to provide and care for us. Feminism proves to discredit this fact by saying that women are just as capable as men to provide, and take care of their family all on their own. Although that feminists disagree with Freud’s thoughts about women, many have used is psychoanalysis to prove a point about female sexuality and the roles that women play in film, movies, and literature. The work gives an insight into femininity and what it is like to be a female. They give example about the different roles men and women take part in and the perspective they have one each other. In “Feminist Poststructuralism and Psychoanalysis” they say, “If psychoanalysis is currently popular with feminists as a way of understanding the construction of sexuality, initial feminist to Freud were far from positive”(43).  Which is correct. They weren’t positive because it wasn’t a good thing when Freud was saying that women are really only go to bear children maintain your household. But feminists use this for an example as to what women have gone through for many more years than people can image. He has laid the building blocks for what feminisms want to see change in society. There is no more need for discriminating against men and women and that is exactly what feminists want to see in the world. “Feminist Poststructuralism and Psychoanalysis” also states, “It is the stress in Freudian theory on the initial bisexuality of the child and the precarious psychic rather than biological nature of gender identity which has encouraged many feminists to attempt to appropriate psychoanalysis for their interests”(45). Feminists want to understand psychoanalysis to better understand what they are fighting for. Women have worked so hard for us to be as far as we are today, we would not want to stop their fight until we have what every women wants; equality.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *