5/ Gender - Psychodynamic explanation Flashcards
According to the psychodynamic approach how does gender development occur?
through unconscious processes and psychosexual development - pleasure is centred around an area of the body.
in what stage does gender develop out of the 5 stages freuds psychoanalytic theory describes?
in the third stage - phallic stage
where is the focus of pleasure in the phallic stage?
switches to the genitals and the boys experience the Oedipus complex and girls experience the Electra complex. unsuccessful resolution of this stage can lead to homosexuality.
what happens in the oedipus complex?
at 3 years young boys develop sexual desire for mother and delay feelings of jealously and hatred to father. scared father will find out and fears he will be castrated. therefore boy IDENTIFIES with father and INTERNALISE his fathers identity.
what happens in the Electra complex?
girls initially attracted to mother until they realise she doesn’t have a penis. girl blames mother for lack of a penis so transfers her sexual desires to father. penis envy converts to desire to have a baby so identifies with mother and internalises mothers gender.
why did freud suggest that female identification was not as strong as male identification?
because boys have more to loose (penis) compared to girls (mothers love) therefore Freud believed that there wasn’t any reason t identify with women because they had a lower status than men.
give a definition of identification.
wishing to be similar to a particular person as a result of their characteristic e.g. wishing to be male because of the characteristics of their father.
give a definition of internalisation.
taking on board attitudes, value and behaviours of another.
what evidence is there to support this theory?
case study of little Hans - feared horses because he saw it collapse freud interpreted this fear of castration by his father through displacement.
what evidence is there to criticise this theory?
implies that a child must have two opposite sex parents in order to resolve oedipus or Electra complex. BUT children from single sex parent or gay and trans couples do not have gender identity issues.
why can’t freuds theory be tested scientifically?
concepts like the oedipus and Electra complex are impossible to test unlike e.g. biological explanations - makes theory pseudoscientific - no falsifiability
why is it argued that there is gender biased in Freud’s theory?
paid more attention to males rather than females - didn’t write the Electra complex. alpha biased - exaggerates difference between how men and women develop in gender but it may be in the same way.
