The Freud quote about women was read to the International
Psychoanalytic Congress in Hamburg in 1923 by Freud's daughter Anna. It
is titles "Some psychical consequences of the anatomical distinction
between the sexes" and was published in 1925. In later papers,
"Feminiity" published in 1933, he confessed his thinking was "incomplete
and fragmentary and does not always sound friendly." My source for this
is Peter Gay's (1989) _The Freud Reader__P.670, with the particular
infamous quote on Page 677. You might be interested in the rest of the
quote:
"We must not allow ourselves to be deflected from such conclusions
by the denials of the feminists, who are anxious to force us to regard
the two sexes as completely equal in position and worth; but we shall,
of course, willingly agree that the majority of men are also far behind
the masculine ideal and that all human individuals, as a result of their
bisexual disposition and cross-inheritance, combine in themselves both
masculine and feminine characteristics, so that pure masculinity and
femininity remain theoretical constructions of uncertain content."
He goes on to point out his findings come from only a "handful of
cases" which must be valid and typically found for his ideas to have
ultimate worth. He references works by Karen Horney, Karl Abraham, and
Helene Deutsch as also making "valuable and comprehensive studies" on
such issues (P. 678).
On a different matter: I regard Freud as having provided some
stimulating ideas and recognize his influence in psychology and popular
culture. Many texts refer to him, Jung, and other medically trained
practioners as "psychologists." I know such authors are talking in a
very general way, but in almost all of my classes, it is important for
students to learn distinctions between various types of psychologists,
psychiatrists, and other professionals who may apply or study
psychological ideas. I tell my students that Freud would be considered
a psychiatrist today, and that his thinking has been (IMO) deservedly
influential as well as controversial, but he should not be called a
psychologist except in a very loose, popular sense. I feel it is partly
due to such vague uses of the terms in textbooks that the layperson
identifies any pop-psych ideas as making up the field of psychology.
Cheers, Gary Peterson
Gay, P. (1989). The Freud reader. New York: W. W. Norton.
Gary Peterson, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Psychology
Saginaw Valley State University
