Electra complex

The Electra complex (aka "Daddy Issues" or the "Bernfeld Factor") is a concept found in Psychoanalytic theory that attempts to address issues of female development. It is based largely on the work of Sigmund Freud, and uses the Oedipal complex as a point of reference for its elaboration. Freud referred to it as the "feminine Oedipus attitude" in his own writings. It was later renamed the "Electra complex" by his contemporary Carl Jung^[1], although Freud himself rejected the use of the term because it "seeks to emphasize the analogy between the attitude of the two sexes."^[2]

Freud's research on female psychology, sexuality in particular, was limited by social conventions of gender and class. Women of the period were considered the 'second sex' and many of his female patients were labeled "degenerates". ^[3] The "feminine Oedipus attitude" was posited by Freud as a theoretical counterpart to the Oedipus complex. Carl Jung proposed the name Electra complex for Freud's concept, deriving the name from the Greek myth of Electra, who wanted her brother to avenge the death of the siblings' father Agamemnon, by killing their mother, Clytemnestra.

According to Freud, a girl, like a boy, is originally attached to the mother figure. However, during the phallic stage, when she discovers that she lacks a penis, she becomes libidinally attached to the father figure, and imagines that she will become pregnant by him, all the while becoming more hostile toward her mother. Freud attributes the character of this developmental stage in girls to the idea of "penis envy", where a girl is envious of the male penis. According to the theory, this penis envy leads to resentment towards the mother figure, who is believed to have caused the girl's "castration". The hostility towards the mother is then later revoked for fear of losing the mother's love, and the mother becomes internalized, much the same as the Oedipus Complex.

"Daddy Issues" in urban slang refer broadly to the results of a female's turbulent, or abusive relationship with her father, or absence of a father figure during her childhood, and the manner in which this is said to hinder relationships later in life. It is a common belief that women who become sex workers have "Daddy Issues."

Popular culture references

• In the popular television crime drama CSI: Las Vegas, the episode "Got Murder?" features a mother who abandons her husband and children and turns up dead. The daughter has an Electra complex involving her father and killed her own mother when she caught the mother sleeping with her father.
• The Electra complex is also mentioned in the movie Mona Lisa Smile.

References

1. ^ Jung, Carl (1970). Psychoanalysis and Neurosis. Princeton University Press. 
2. ^ Freud, Sigmund (1956). On Sexuality. Penguin Books Ltd. 
3. ^ Brom, Suzanne. Freud, the Feminist?. Duquesne University. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.

• Breuer, J & Freud, S. Studies on Hysteria. (1909). Basic Books.
• DeBeauvoir, S. (1952). The Second Sex. New York: Vintage Books.
• Freud, S. (1905). Dora: Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria. New York: WW Norton & Company.
• Freud, S. (1920). “A Case of Homosexuality in a Woman”. The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. New York: Hogarth Press.
• Lauzen, G. (1965). Sigmund Freud: The Man and his Theories. New York: Paul S. Eriksson, Inc.
• Lerman, H. (1986). A Mote in Freud’s Eye. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
• Mitchell, J. (1974). Psychoanalysis and Feminism. New York: Vintage Books.
• Tobin, B. (1988). "Reverse Oedipal Complex" Analysis. New York: Random House Publishing Company.

See also

• Genetic sexual attraction
• Feminism and the Oedipus complex

This psychology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

ar:عقدة اليتكرا

da:Elektrakompleks de:Elektrakomplex es:Complejo de Electra fr:Complexe d’Électre he:תסביך אלקטרה nl:Electracomplex ja:エレクトラコンプレックス pl:Kompleks Elektry pt:Complexo de Electra ru:Комплекс Электры fi:Elektra-kompleksi sv:Elektrakomplex