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Encyclopedia > Electra complex
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The Electra complex is an ambiguous psychiatric concept which attempts to explain the maturation of the human female. Freud's research on female psychology, sexuality in particular, was limited by social conventions of gender and class; women were considered the 'second-sex' and many of his female patients were labeled 'degenerates.'1 The Electra complex was created as the female counterpart to the Oedipus complex in males. Its name comes from the Greek myth of Electra, who wanted her brother to avenge their father Agamemnon's death by killing their mother Clytemnestra. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... The Oedipus complex or Oedipus conflict is a concept developed by Sigmund Freud to explain the origin of certain neuroses in childhood. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and their own cult and ritual practices. ... Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Electra was daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. ... The so-called Mask of Agamemnon. Discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876 at Mycenae. ... Clytemnestra (Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα Klytaimnéstra, praiseworthy wooing) was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. ...


Carl Jung proposed the name Electra complex for Sigmund Freud's concept of the "feminine Oedipus attitude" in young girls.2 According to Sigmund Freud, the girl is originally attached to the mother as well; however, when she discovers that she lacks a penis during the phallic stage the daughter becomes libidinally attached to her father and imagines that she will become pregnant by him, while becoming more hostile towards her mother. This is due mostly to the idea of "penis envy" - that the girl is envious of her father's penis. She believes that the pregnancy would replace the missing penis which she envies and would allow her to gain equal status with the father. Carl Jungs autobiographical work Memories , Dreams, Reflections, Fontana edition Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875, Kesswil, – June 6, 1961, Küsnacht) (IPA: ) was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. ... Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856–September 23, 1939; IPA pronunciation: []) was a Jewish-Austrian neurologist and the co-founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ... The phallic stage is the third of Freuds psychosexual stages, when awareness of and manipulation of the genitals is supposed to be a primary source of pleasure. ... For the Crass album, see Penis Envy (album). ... The penis (plural penises, penes) is an external male sexual organ. ... The term trimester redirects here. ...


According to this theory, a young girl's penis envy leads to resentment towards her mother, whom the girl believes caused her "castration." Some psychologists claim the male psyche is the dominant entity in human relations. This has been refuted by recent studies, as women have less castration anxiety than men and are able to deal with their frustration more openly because of societal conventions.[1] For the Crass album, see Penis Envy (album). ... Psyche can refer to: In psychology and related fields, the psyche is the entirety of the non-physical aspects of a person. ...


The belief that women are psychologically subordinate may be due in part to the phallocentric belief that females have a weaker superego, where theorectically morality is developed and values internalized. This judicial component of human personality is developed during the phallic stage. A dominant view of the male psyche may also be rooted in the habits of a phallocentric social system, such as those descended from patriarchal cultures and family systems. In later life, so the theory goes, the girl will grow into the character type that her mother has developed as a means to attracting a man similar to her father. In his theory of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud sought to explain how the unconscious mind operates by proposing that it has a particular structure. ... The phallic stage is the third of Freuds psychosexual stages, when awareness of and manipulation of the genitals is supposed to be a primary source of pleasure. ...


Furthermore, if there is a "perversion" in the development of females or if their aggression is somehow stifled, resentment can in turn be displaced towards the dominant male (the father) or patriarchal cultures in general. Some say this explains lesbianism and feminism (though this is far from universally accepted, as it unsupportedly assumes that women loving and/or supporting equality for other women requires an animosity toward men and an inherent perversity in their nature). A lesbian is a woman who is romantically and sexually attracted only to other women. ... Feminism is a collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies largely motivated by or concerned with the liberation of women. ...


Electra Complex In Popular Culture

  • In the popular tv crime drama CSI: Las Vegas, the twelf episode in the third season, titled Got Murder? (CSI Episode) features a mother who abandoned her husband and children showing up dead. The daughter has an Electra complex involving her father, and killed her own mother when she caught the mother back with the father, sleeping with him.

References

1.Suzanne. Freud, the Feminist? Duquesne University.


Breuer, J & Freud, S. Studies on Hysteria. (1909). Basic Books.


DeBeauvoir, S. (1952). The Second Sex. New York: Vintage Books.


Freud, S. (1905). Dora: Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria. New York: WW Norton & Company.


Freud, S. (1920). “A Case of Homosexuality in a Woman”. The Complete Psychological Works of


2. Jung, Carl. "Psychoanalysis and Neurosis" , Collected Works of C. G. Jung, 4, Princeton University Press, 1970. (pars. 557-75).


Sigmund Freud. New York: Hogarth Press.


Lauzen, G. (1965). Sigmund Freud: The Man and his Theories. New York: Paul S. Eriksson, Inc.


Lerman, H. (1986). A Mote in Freud’s Eye. New York: Springer Publishing Company.


Mitchell, J. (1974). Psychoanalysis and Feminism. New York: Vintage Books.


Tobin, B. (1988). "Reverse Oedipal Complex" Analysis. New York: Random House Publishing Company..


See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
Electra complex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (416 words)
The Electra complex is an ambiguous psychiatric concept which attempts to explain the maturation of the human female.
It is said to be the female counterpart to the Oedipus complex in males.
According to Sigmund Freud, the girl is originally attached to the mother as well; however, when she discovers that she lacks a penis during the phallic stage the daughter becomes libidinally attached to her father and imagines that she will become pregnant by him, while becoming more hostile towards her mother.
Complex (psychology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (524 words)
In psychology a complex is generally an important group of unconscious associations, or a strong unconscious impulse lying behind an individual's otherwise mysterious condition: the detail varies widely from theory to theory.
The term "complex," or "feeling-toned complex of ideas," was adopted by Carl Jung when he was still a close associate of Sigmund Freud.
Some of the key complexes Jung wrote about were the anima (a node of unconscious beliefs and feelings in a man's psyche relating to the opposite gender) and animus (the corresponding complex in a woman's psyche); and the shadow (Jung's term embracing any aspect of psyche which has been excluded from conscious awareness).
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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