It is without doubt that the theoretical framework of Lacanian psychoanalysis drawing upon such concepts as Oedipus complex, Castration complex and Phallus has brought about the issue of femininity and patriarchal power relations between the figure of the Father and the Mother. Throughout this essay, I intend to follow Sarup’s guide to “Lacan and Psychoanalysis” (1993) and dwell upon the matter of gender identity and sexual personality by taking into account the Lacanian understanding of socio-symbolic construction of masculinity and femininity.
Before all else, it is highly essential to fully grasp the Lacanian conceptualization of a symbolic order in which “Symbolic Linguistics” and “Oedipus complex” come into sight as the core structures of a circular sense of lack. Lacan sees the Oedipus complex as the cornerstone of a humanization process, in which a changing course of events occur during childhood. The events once took place in its pure natural form have gradually become subject to outside cultural forms such as law and language. To elaborate, Lacan argues that the child does not simply ask for the Mother’s attention in terms of his basic human needs such as being nourished; he desires to complement what is loss in her: the Phallus. This suggests that there is a sexual tension between the Mother and the child. In the second phase the father comes into the scene; casts the child away from his object of desire, namely from the Mother. The child faces the Law of the Father and feels a symbolic fear of castration. In the cause of not losing his Phallus, reconciliation occurs and the child finally identifies himself with the Father. As Sarup explains symbolic order in 1993 in the very first chapter of Lacan and Psychoanalysis: “The child humanizes itself by becoming aware of the self, the world and others. [...] He realizes himself through participation in the world of culture, language and civilization.” Taking this into account, it can be concluded that Lacanian symbolic order passes through the socio-linguistic stages of humanization and ends up being acknowledged of the rule-giver’s existence and accepting his dictatorship. Nevertheless, with respect to Irigaray’s feminist critique of pscyhoanalysis, Oedipus complex puts heavy emphasis on the priviliged power position of the Phallus in terms of its superior nature of rule-giving, where the Law of the Father represents in a discursive way; and fails to acknowledge the gender identity and sexual personality of the women, where the Mother is recognized as deficient and always in “lack” of the priviliged power position of the Phallus. …show more content…
By centering the figure of the Father into a dominant position within such a phallocentric argument, it subordinates women within the sociocultural structure of family and society. Considering the understanding of women’s desire within the Lacanian psychoanalytical framework, a woman’s desire ends up being nothing more than a desire …show more content…
It is that oedipal dynamics in its socio-linguistic structure which reproduces the Law of the Father and its domination over the Mother. In fact, it does nothing more than to reproduce the fear of castration for male children from one generation to another, which in return make them think that being female is only the result of a castration enforced by the Law of the Father and make them follow him as the
Before all else, it is highly essential to fully grasp the Lacanian conceptualization of a symbolic order in which “Symbolic Linguistics” and “Oedipus complex” come into sight as the core structures of a circular sense of lack. Lacan sees the Oedipus complex as the cornerstone of a humanization process, in which a changing course of events occur during childhood. The events once took place in its pure natural form have gradually become subject to outside cultural forms such as law and language. To elaborate, Lacan argues that the child does not simply ask for the Mother’s attention in terms of his basic human needs such as being nourished; he desires to complement what is loss in her: the Phallus. This suggests that there is a sexual tension between the Mother and the child. In the second phase the father comes into the scene; casts the child away from his object of desire, namely from the Mother. The child faces the Law of the Father and feels a symbolic fear of castration. In the cause of not losing his Phallus, reconciliation occurs and the child finally identifies himself with the Father. As Sarup explains symbolic order in 1993 in the very first chapter of Lacan and Psychoanalysis: “The child humanizes itself by becoming aware of the self, the world and others. [...] He realizes himself through participation in the world of culture, language and civilization.” Taking this into account, it can be concluded that Lacanian symbolic order passes through the socio-linguistic stages of humanization and ends up being acknowledged of the rule-giver’s existence and accepting his dictatorship. Nevertheless, with respect to Irigaray’s feminist critique of pscyhoanalysis, Oedipus complex puts heavy emphasis on the priviliged power position of the Phallus in terms of its superior nature of rule-giving, where the Law of the Father represents in a discursive way; and fails to acknowledge the gender identity and sexual personality of the women, where the Mother is recognized as deficient and always in “lack” of the priviliged power position of the Phallus. …show more content…
By centering the figure of the Father into a dominant position within such a phallocentric argument, it subordinates women within the sociocultural structure of family and society. Considering the understanding of women’s desire within the Lacanian psychoanalytical framework, a woman’s desire ends up being nothing more than a desire …show more content…
It is that oedipal dynamics in its socio-linguistic structure which reproduces the Law of the Father and its domination over the Mother. In fact, it does nothing more than to reproduce the fear of castration for male children from one generation to another, which in return make them think that being female is only the result of a castration enforced by the Law of the Father and make them follow him as the