Psychosexual Development: Criticism of Freud’s theory of psychosexual development

Despite their popularity among psychoanalytical psychologists, Freud’s psychosexual theories are commonly criticized as being sexist. Freud’s theories were often informed by his own introspection and self-analysis, and thus were infused with an inherently male perspective, resulting in a great deal of criticism from feminists as well as from gender theory practitioners. He had difficulty incorporating female desire into his theories and attempted to provide a theoretical explanation for feminine psychosexual development only rather late in his career.[5] He personally confessed a lack of understanding of female sexuality and did not hold out hope that psychology would ever explain the phenomenon.

Works by Karen Horney

Neurosis and Human Growth, Norton, New York, 1950. ISBN 0-393-00135-0
Are You Considering Psychoanalysis? Norton, 1946. ISBN 0-393-00131-8
Our Inner Conflicts, Norton, 1945. ISBN 0-393-00133-4
Self-analysis, Norton, 1942. ISBN 0-393-00134-2
New Ways in Psychoanalysis, Norton, 1939. ISBN 0-393-00132-6
The Neurotic Personality of our Time, Norton, 1937. ISBN 0-393-01012-0
Feminine Psychology (reprints), Norton, 1922-37 1967. ISBN 0-393-00686-7
The Collected Works of Karen Horney [...]

Karen Horney: Feminine psychology

Horney was also a pioneer in the discipline of feminine psychiatry.[9][10] As one of the first female psychiatrists, she was the first of her gender to present a paper regarding feminine psychiatry. The fourteen papers she wrote between 1922 and 1937 were amalgamated into a single volume titled Feminine Psychology. As a woman, she felt that the mapping out of trends in female behaviour was a neglected issue. In her essay entitled “The Problem of Feminine Masochism” Horney felt she proved that cultures and societies worldwide encouraged woman to be dependent on men for their love, prestige, wealth, care and protection. She pointed out that in the society , a will to please, satiate and overvalue men had emerged. Women were regarded as objects of charm and beauty — at variance with every human being’s ultimate purpose of self-actualization.

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