The Electra Complex
While Freud's Oedipus Complex is the one we hear about most commonly, it is usually specific to the male gender. The Electra Complex is actually the term Carl Jung coined to describe the female equivalent of Sigmund Freud's Oedipus Complex.
Sigmund Freud said that the Electra Complex develops during a young girl's psychosexual stage during which she forms a deep attachment to her mother. The mother, according to Freud, is the seducer in a woman's fantasy and Freud attributes this to the fact that the mother is usually the first to stimulate a child's genitals. However, upon discovering that the female child does not have a penis, the child develops "penis envy" and blames her mother for her castration. This results in hostility and hate, which appear later in the child's relationship with her mother as the female never truly forgives her mother for putting her at the disadvantage of not giving her a penis. Having now developed a hostility towards the mother, the female child will, according to Freud, turn to her father because she is envious of his penis and recognizes him as the perfect gender unlike her own flawed gender. Ultimately, the female develops an attachment to her father and begins to intensify her hostility towards her mother because she recognizes her as the competition to her father's affections.
The only way to resolve this is if the female finds her own identity as a female and not a flawed male. She is likely to once again resume a relationship with her mother. If the female is never able to resolve this issue, the Electra Complex appears in her personal life. Because she was unable to successfully compete against her mother for the affection of her father, she will always look for father figures in her life or be attracted to men who are similar to her father in some way or another.
Sigmund Freud said that the Electra Complex develops during a young girl's psychosexual stage during which she forms a deep attachment to her mother. The mother, according to Freud, is the seducer in a woman's fantasy and Freud attributes this to the fact that the mother is usually the first to stimulate a child's genitals. However, upon discovering that the female child does not have a penis, the child develops "penis envy" and blames her mother for her castration. This results in hostility and hate, which appear later in the child's relationship with her mother as the female never truly forgives her mother for putting her at the disadvantage of not giving her a penis. Having now developed a hostility towards the mother, the female child will, according to Freud, turn to her father because she is envious of his penis and recognizes him as the perfect gender unlike her own flawed gender. Ultimately, the female develops an attachment to her father and begins to intensify her hostility towards her mother because she recognizes her as the competition to her father's affections.
The only way to resolve this is if the female finds her own identity as a female and not a flawed male. She is likely to once again resume a relationship with her mother. If the female is never able to resolve this issue, the Electra Complex appears in her personal life. Because she was unable to successfully compete against her mother for the affection of her father, she will always look for father figures in her life or be attracted to men who are similar to her father in some way or another.