Castration Anxiety (Noun)
Meaning
(psychoanalysis) anxiety resulting from real or imagined threats to your sexual functions; originally applied only to men but can in principle apply to women.
Classification
Nouns denoting natural processes.
Examples
- Castration anxiety in males often manifests as an irrational fear of being emasculated or losing their masculine identity.
- According to psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus complex is closely linked to castration anxiety in young boys.
- Some psychoanalysts argue that castration anxiety can also be experienced by women, particularly in the context of patriarchal societies that devalue female sexuality.
- In Freudian psychoanalysis, castration anxiety is seen as a critical factor in the formation of the male psyche during the phallic stage of development.
- The concept of castration anxiety has been influential in shaping feminist critiques of psychoanalytic theory and its perceived biases against women.