Karen Horney (1885-1952) Karen Danielsen was born on September 16, 1885 near Hamburg, Germany to Clotilde and Berndt Danielsen. Her father was a ship captain, who was very conservative in his outlook, while her mother was a much more liberal. She had a troubled childhood and after a brief spell of over attachment to her mother, she devoted all her energy towards intellectual pursuits. She believed that her father was fonder of her brother Berndt. His reproachful attitude towards her and strictness didn’t help either. Another event that left a permanent mark on her was her infatuation with her brother, which led to her first bout of depression. Some critics view her childhood as the formative influence behind her theories. She sought to understand …show more content…
She regards the cultural differences in the upbringing of women and men as the origin of many psychological disturbances that Freud had described in his patients. Horney rejects the concept of penis envy as the woman’s envy of the power that a man possesses, and not the actual organ itself. It is a concept of social origin, and not biological. Horney distinguishes between the cultural and social forces that shapes the formative years of a male and female child. A girl child often grows up envying her brother because of the freedom of movement and decision making that comes with his gender. Her envy of her brother comes from his fluidity of existence that has been denied to her. Hence, she often comes to associate femininity with weakness and strives to achieve the superior status of men. This, Horney called the masculinity complex. The girl wishes for the qualities or privileges that the society attributes to men and despises women, including her own self. Generally, masculinity complex is not a reaction to biological “inferiority” or organ inferiority, rather it reacts to cultural and social inferiority forced upon women. However, some women see the femininity attached with pregnancy as undesirable and unconsciously rejects desire and potential to be a mother. She called this trend the flight from motherhood. One among the curious terms that Horney has put forward is what is called “womb envy”. This term is a counterpart to the Freudian penis envy. She expounded that men are driven towards success because of their compulsion to be productive, while women can do this just by being. Because of this creative potential, there is an innate superiority in women. And the womb envy in men strives to emerge as superior by controlling and manipulating
Lucy Westenra presents a rejection to motherhood when she eats the body of a child and throws it away. ‘the new woman represented a threat not only to the social order, but also to the natural order. ’-101 ‘the child that she had clutched strenuously to her breast’ p.188 ‘scientific research defined a woman entirely in terms of body, one which characterised women’s bodies as devoid of passion. Science greatly feared sexual excess, which it felt could lead to men’s debilitation, which in turn could weaken the entire race. Since men’s passion was considered strong and more naturally inclined to excess, the controls were, instead, placed on women.
She describes learned masculinity and the roles that boys must follow in order to become men, likewise when it comes to females and their roles (Chodorow, p.
PSY 108 - Psychology Unit 5 Assignment Explain the ways in which culture and gender contribute to sexual behavior and expectations about that behavior. 75 Points Grading Rubric: Required Discussion Elements Point Value Thorough explanation of ways culture contributes to sexual behavior and expectations 20 Thorough explanation of ways gender contributes to sexual behavior and expectations 20 Proper citation of the material. 15 No spelling or grammar errors.
History has repeatedly given men privilege due to their physical advantages; yet it is these same advantages that have developed into “rules” or expectations that all men should conform to in order to prove their manhood. Michael Kimmel’s essay, “‘Bros Before Hos': The Guy Code” outlines the “rules” where men are expected to never show any emotions, be brave, act knowledgeable, be risk takers, be in control, act reliable, and be competitive, otherwise they would be showing weakness which is analogous to women. It is humiliating that men associate weakness with women; they should focus on the potential of the individual rather than their gender. Most insults toward men attack their masculinity because society finds it shameful for men to be
As Freud states in his 1925 essay “Some psychological consequences of the anatomical distinction between the sexes” that a pervasive fear of the mother exists, as an archaic that threatens to overpower her child and smother the child into her own primal system . Indeed the figure of the monstrous mother is a
As well as, the direct relationship between the forms of sexual intimidation during a females fertility cycle when she tries to mate with a male of her choice (7). Similarly, it appears that the females are more likely to be overpowered by a male when they are in communities that create times of seclusion from other female kin or relatives which removes their sense of protection from dominating tactics or death (12). To summarize, it seems the evolutionary trait of male dominance over females is a behavior that may be biologically adaptive, but according to Darwin it may be just an instinct that is heavily, influenced by the environment the non-human primate or human has adapted
There are several Psychological theories that could contribute a path to delinquency. They include psychodynamic theory, the attachment theory, the moral development theory and the behavioral theory just to name a few. In researching information on Eric Smith, I believe he had several underlying issues that contributed to his violent senseless crime against a helpless little boy. I feel the lack of moral development was a huge factor that caused this youth to explode. Eric Smith was 13 years old, in 1993, when he murdered Derrick Robie, a 4-year-old little boy.
Motherhood, is one of the most unforgettable milestone in women’s life and a sense of achievement
The concept of masculinity is traits that are conventionally associated with boys and men. These may be physiologically defined in terms of physical or biological traits, but more commonly masculinity is considered to be socially constructed and restricted by the norms applied to boys and men in a given culture. (Gabriel, 7). Mary Shelley characterizes Victor, using societal and gender norms to motivate him as a victorian doctor. His motivations lay in that of conventionality, to feel good about himself as a man because of his insecurities.
His revulsion comes largely from the social expectations of masculinity,
Masculinity is slowing killing men; with all the pressure and expectations that man have to be a certain image, this can cause many negative effects which can lead to many dangerous and serious situations. Due to all these expectations many bad habits can form such as alcoholism, violence and workaholism. This peer pressure can cause men to have depression or engage in many risky activities that will effect there life in many negative ways, such as injuring themselves. In the article it states that “little boys are, in fact, slightly more sensitive and expressive than little girls” (Kali Holloway). Even though
Gender roles can be defined as the behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms. Gender roles still influence modern thoughts even after the woman’s rights movement and still appear and impact daily life. There are numerous sides to gender roles, including; men's and women's stereotypes and norms, the pros and cons, and how it can be fixed. As Ostrovsky stated in her article, “we have evolved. But our ideas of gender have not evolved very much,”.
However, the frequent usage of the phrase resulted in portraying an overall ignorance of the speaker. The internalization of sexism also plays in on a personal level—ie one that is not absorbed by consuming media but is inflicted by friends or family or partners. In some families where there were brothers and sisters, women felt devalued when their brother got more attention or that their brother was treated better, such as given more opportunities or allowed to do things with parents (Atwood). In Nancy Atwood’s study, some of these women felt burdened by having to take care of their parents or do duties that weren’t required of
Who are you? Do you define yourself as man or woman? How do you know? Born biologically male/female, do you know how to behave in a masculine/feminine way? Of course you do!
Masculinity (also called boyhood, manliness or manhood) is a set of attributes, behaviors and roles generally associated with boys and men. But the culture doesn’t end at the definition, it starts from there. The first thing to come to mind when the word masculinity is heard is usually a man flexing his gigantic muscles, as the word might sound to suggest, and that right there is the current culture of masculinity because sadly, in the world we live in, not everyone has a “muscular body”. So far we know the concept of masculinity, but the culture is what is truly hampering.