Freud's Views on Women: An Overview
There was no specific place we found where Freud laid out his views of women, but we did manage to interpret various quotes by him and infer from his ideas how he felt about women and femininity. First, when his daughter Anna was born, he told a close friend that if it were a boy, he would have informed him more quickly through telegram, but since it was girl, he informed his friend later, rather than sooner. Next, in his lecture on femininity, he began by talking about women's sexuality and he said, "To those of you who are women this will not apply - you are yourselves the problem" (Freud, 1964, p. 113). Additionally, he believed that women are passive in sex and men are active in a sexual sense, but not in many other ways. He believes this distinction cannot go beyond sex because women are very active in caring for children, among other activities. So, in this instance, he is attempting to break the stereotype of women as passive. He also says in this lecture that girls are more dependent and need more affection. Girls are taught more quickly to control their genitals and are more intelligent.
While he believes they are more intelligent, he then seems to contradict himself by stating that shame is considered a feminine characteristic. Additionally, he states that women are sexually frigid and this is well understood by many. His wife was particularly sexually frigid, which may be why he believes this is widely known and understood about women. He continues, stating that people contribute narcissism to women more frequently, which "also affects women's choice of object" (Freud, 1964, p. 132). Additionally, he says, "The physical vanity of women [is represented], since they are bound to value their charms more highly as a late compensation for their original sexual inferiority" (1964, p. 132). This only adds to his argument that women are more narcissistic than men.
Adding to his argument for the Oedipus Complex, he says that women value relationships with sons more because they can transfer desires and wishes onto them. Adding onto that, he says that "women must be regarded as having little sense of justice...[which is] related to the predominance of envy in their mental life" (Freud, 1964, p. 134). It is noteworthy to admit that in his lecture on femininity, Freud seemed to be minimizing the stereotypes about women, hoping that his lecture would dissipate those stereotypes. While he may not have accomplished this, he openly admitted in his lecture that he believed people saw women as passive, narcissistic, and vain, although he hoped the Oedipus Complex would explain away those assumptions.
In regards to his patient Dora, or Ida Bauer, Freud did not think that there was any danger of corrupting an inexperienced girl and that where there is no knowledge of sexual processes even in the unconscious, no hysterical symptoms will arise (Bernheimer, 1985, p. 222). He seems to be arguing that hysterical symptoms in women can be easily removed or not even developed if she knows nothing about sex. He is also implicating that young, inexperienced girls cannot be corrupted, which makes him appear careless regarding females and sex.
Freud also experienced a great deal of confusion regarding women and their sexuality due to his unresolved feelings about his mother. Slipp argues that "Freud needed to see women as asexual, since he...could not deal with his mother's sexuality" (1993, p. 74). His lack of ability to work through his emotions for his mother limited his ability to observe women's sexuality and include it in his theories, according to Slipp. Additionally, he wrote that he found it difficult to understand women, stating that the sex life of adult women remained a "mysterious 'dark continent'" (1993, p. 91). His experience of loss and abandonment from his mother and nanny made it difficult for Freud to define gender identity, which influenced his theory of female bisexuality.
Despite all these negative statements and ideas stemming from Freud, he promoted women that were career-oriented and feminists, but only if they were unmarried, separated, or in a marriage where they viewed their husbands as unimportant. He believed that these women were less competitive than men in psychoanalytic groups. He acknowledged the work of women in psychoanalysis in his own writings. Additionally, he gave many women a secret ring that he only gave to his "favorite" analysts. Some of these women include his daughter Anna Freud, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Marie Bonaparte, Ruth Mack Brunswick, Dorothy Burlingham, Gisela Ferenczi, and others. It is only fair to note his support of these women who were pursuing careers in psychoanalysis and getting an education. It is also interesting that his qualification for supporting them directly omits their husbands or requires lack thereof.
Finally, we noticed that in many of Freud's cases, he seemed to have sexual feelings towards his patients, as he seems to counter-transfer on them. He counter-transferred on Dora, appearing to have sexual feelings for her, as well as for his other patient we researched, Anna O. It is believed that Anna Freud had sexual feelings for her father, so it is possible that he counter-transferred on her as well. It is a recurring theme that he seemed to blame himself for having sexual feelings toward women. In fact, he spent the majority of his later life surrounded by beautiful women, which only adds to his sexual feelings towards women. These feelings and blame for having these feelings most likely only contributed to his theories and his inability to fully understand adult women sexuality.
Sources: Bernheimer, C., & Kahane, C. (Eds.). (1985). In Dora’s Case: Freud - Hysteria - Feminism. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Freud, S. (1964). Lecture XXXIII: Femininity. The Standard Edition of the Complete Works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. XXII). London: Hogarth Press.
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2012). A History of Modern Psychology (10 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Slipp, S. (1993). The Freudian Mystique: Freud, Women, and Feminism. New York and London: New York University Press.
While he believes they are more intelligent, he then seems to contradict himself by stating that shame is considered a feminine characteristic. Additionally, he states that women are sexually frigid and this is well understood by many. His wife was particularly sexually frigid, which may be why he believes this is widely known and understood about women. He continues, stating that people contribute narcissism to women more frequently, which "also affects women's choice of object" (Freud, 1964, p. 132). Additionally, he says, "The physical vanity of women [is represented], since they are bound to value their charms more highly as a late compensation for their original sexual inferiority" (1964, p. 132). This only adds to his argument that women are more narcissistic than men.
Adding to his argument for the Oedipus Complex, he says that women value relationships with sons more because they can transfer desires and wishes onto them. Adding onto that, he says that "women must be regarded as having little sense of justice...[which is] related to the predominance of envy in their mental life" (Freud, 1964, p. 134). It is noteworthy to admit that in his lecture on femininity, Freud seemed to be minimizing the stereotypes about women, hoping that his lecture would dissipate those stereotypes. While he may not have accomplished this, he openly admitted in his lecture that he believed people saw women as passive, narcissistic, and vain, although he hoped the Oedipus Complex would explain away those assumptions.
In regards to his patient Dora, or Ida Bauer, Freud did not think that there was any danger of corrupting an inexperienced girl and that where there is no knowledge of sexual processes even in the unconscious, no hysterical symptoms will arise (Bernheimer, 1985, p. 222). He seems to be arguing that hysterical symptoms in women can be easily removed or not even developed if she knows nothing about sex. He is also implicating that young, inexperienced girls cannot be corrupted, which makes him appear careless regarding females and sex.
Freud also experienced a great deal of confusion regarding women and their sexuality due to his unresolved feelings about his mother. Slipp argues that "Freud needed to see women as asexual, since he...could not deal with his mother's sexuality" (1993, p. 74). His lack of ability to work through his emotions for his mother limited his ability to observe women's sexuality and include it in his theories, according to Slipp. Additionally, he wrote that he found it difficult to understand women, stating that the sex life of adult women remained a "mysterious 'dark continent'" (1993, p. 91). His experience of loss and abandonment from his mother and nanny made it difficult for Freud to define gender identity, which influenced his theory of female bisexuality.
Despite all these negative statements and ideas stemming from Freud, he promoted women that were career-oriented and feminists, but only if they were unmarried, separated, or in a marriage where they viewed their husbands as unimportant. He believed that these women were less competitive than men in psychoanalytic groups. He acknowledged the work of women in psychoanalysis in his own writings. Additionally, he gave many women a secret ring that he only gave to his "favorite" analysts. Some of these women include his daughter Anna Freud, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Marie Bonaparte, Ruth Mack Brunswick, Dorothy Burlingham, Gisela Ferenczi, and others. It is only fair to note his support of these women who were pursuing careers in psychoanalysis and getting an education. It is also interesting that his qualification for supporting them directly omits their husbands or requires lack thereof.
Finally, we noticed that in many of Freud's cases, he seemed to have sexual feelings towards his patients, as he seems to counter-transfer on them. He counter-transferred on Dora, appearing to have sexual feelings for her, as well as for his other patient we researched, Anna O. It is believed that Anna Freud had sexual feelings for her father, so it is possible that he counter-transferred on her as well. It is a recurring theme that he seemed to blame himself for having sexual feelings toward women. In fact, he spent the majority of his later life surrounded by beautiful women, which only adds to his sexual feelings towards women. These feelings and blame for having these feelings most likely only contributed to his theories and his inability to fully understand adult women sexuality.
Sources: Bernheimer, C., & Kahane, C. (Eds.). (1985). In Dora’s Case: Freud - Hysteria - Feminism. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Freud, S. (1964). Lecture XXXIII: Femininity. The Standard Edition of the Complete Works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. XXII). London: Hogarth Press.
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2012). A History of Modern Psychology (10 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Slipp, S. (1993). The Freudian Mystique: Freud, Women, and Feminism. New York and London: New York University Press.