Frued

Fred believed that sexuality develops through the relationships with parents in early childhood. Children go through stages with their parents that make up their gender identity and sexuality. His theory is that the Oedipus complex constructs the child’s sexuality, enabling them to separate the differences of their parents. The boy is at first attached with the mother but then he fears the idea of castration and he follows the father, internally removing the mother. It is important for the child to go through these stages otherwise they could have serious mental, identity or relationship problems later. His theory demonstrates that boys will see the father as strong and the mother as submissive.

I partially agree with Freud on his idea of the development of sexuality. I believe that our relationship with our parents throughout childhood helps develop our sexuality, but I don’t think that it is necessarily the leading factor. I think that our sexuality is partially innate and partially constructed. I think that there is a greater construction from society instead of only our parents. Freud’s theory of the oedipal stage is accurate when it comes to identifying gender in others, especially at a young age. The belief that the woman is good and nurturing and the man is independent and powerful is pretty common among young children. When I was a child I was not intentionally taught this, but I was under the impression of it. I assume that this was what I observed and experienced at a very young age with my parents. Although I do believe that it is an idea that I acquired through interactions with peers and other adults as well as my parents, which is something that Freud does not mention. This may be a part of our changing society. Since it is now common for women to work outside of the house, children are more often put in social environments, such as day care at earlier ages. In terms of my personal sexuality, I pretty much have the same partial thoughts of Freud’s idea. I was not close with my father at a young age so I feel that other factors in society led to the development of my sexuality. But I also think that sexuality might develop earlier than Freud assumes, perhaps in the infant stage. Overall I like the idea of the Oedipus complex but I agree with the ‘The New Oedipus’ that this is only one step, and that other forms of social integration pre or post Oedipus stage might be even more influential, especially in our changing society.