Describe Freud’s Theory of Gender Development

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According to Freud, gender development occurs during the phallic stage at around the age of 5 years and for boys, the gender development is called the Oedipus Complex but for girls it’s called the Electra Complex. The Oedipus complex is believed by Freud to have stemmed from a boy’s natural love of his mother but because of the fathers standing in the parent’s relationship it was assumed by Freud that boys hold deep unconscious wishes to kill their father so they can take their place and marry their mothers. Evidence supporting this theory comes from the case study of Little Hans (1909). It was also recognised by Freud that boys at this stage realised that mothers have no penis so boys then focus on the fear that their fathers will castrate them (stemming from the threats and discipline arising from being caught masturbating) and as the castration fear is stronger than the desire to obtain the mother, the desire to kill the father is then repressed. It is also at this point in the boy’s life that the superego has developed bringing to the surface feelings of guilt and fear over the desire to kill the father so in order to purge himself of the guild the boy attempts to reconcile with the father by adopting his father’s masculine behaviour and trying to become like him. Because of this, the castration fear is removed as the boy can enjoy the mother as he wishes to. It is through the identification of the same sex parent that Freud believed our gender developed. When describing the gender development process for girls, Freud was unclear and vague but the idea behind the Oedipus is roughly the same for the Electra Complex – girls identify with their mothers in order to learn their gender role and appropriate behaviour. Instead of castration fear that boys experience Freud noted that girls experience penis envy and blames their mother for their lack of a penis

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