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Freud’s writings about women, about hysteria, Oedipus and penis envy, female sexuality and femininity as well as his ideas about women’s place in civilization have provided sites of volatile contention for feminists and queer scholars and activists. Freudian psychoanalysis, for some, serves only to create and sustain ideologies of oppression and pathologisation whereas for others its challenge to the binaries of biology/culture or nature/nurture has radical potential. But what did Freud say about women, feminine sexuality and gender difference?
We will undertake a close reading of Freud, of his fundamental concepts and consider their limits impasses and potentialities. His work is rooted in his clinical practice and thus we will consider his analysis of hysteria (1895) and of the patient he describes as a feminist (1920). Finally, we will consider the controversy in psychoanalytic circles that was triggered by the publication of ‘The Infantile Genital Organisation’ (1923) and ‘The Dissolution of the Oedipus Complex’ (1924), that arguably informs a division in psychoanalysis to this day.
Further reading for Freud and Feminism
Unheard Voices
Our ‘Unheard Voices‘ events season aims to illuminate the life and work of women whose stories have been stifled by history.
The season spans two major exhibitions at the Freud Museum: ‘Ida Applebroog: Mercy Hospital’ (29 February – 7 July 2020) and ‘Muriel Gardiner’ (June – October 2020), both celebrated for challenging the structures of society and pushing boundaries in the name of activism.
