Womb envy
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In
Theory
Womb envy denotes the envy men may feel towards a woman's role in nurturing and sustaining life. In coining the term, the
Although Karen Horney is generally credited with originating the idea of "womb envy," especially in her 1926 article "The Flight from Womanhood: The Masculinity-Complex in Women as Viewed by Men and by Women,"
Brian Luke, in his book Brutal: Manhood and the Exploitation of Animals,[10] discusses three ways in which men who experience womb envy may respond: by compensating—constructing a realm of exclusively male activity, by revaluing—devaluing the functions specific to women and/or magnifying the functions specific to men, and by appropriation—taking control of female specific functions.[10]
Luke attributes the coining of this term not to Horney, but to Eva Kittay. But this is clearly wrong, as noted above. In her 1984 article, Rereading Freud on 'Femininity' or Why Not Womb Envy?,[11] Kittay had posed the question of why there is not a concept analogous to penis envy and offers the term womb envy.[11]
In Personality Theories, Barbara Engler discusses the often unconscious and indirect ways that womb envy manifests. "Womb envy, rather than being openly acknowledged by most males, has often taken subtle and indirect forms, such as rituals of taboo, isolation, and cleansing that have been frequently associated with
Discussing the limitations of Horney's broader psychological viewpoint, Bernardo J. Carducci points out the comparative lack of empirical evidence saying, "In comparison to other theorists..., Horney's work has generated very little empirical research among personality psychologists. Although her theoretical ideas were presented in a relatively straightforward manner, they have not stimulated much interest in others to investigate their validity. This may be in part due to the rejection of her ideas by the more traditional and influential Freudian tradition operating at the time."[13]
In
Along with womb envy there are other mentions that also discussed on topic of womb envy though not the exact name. Michael Joseph Eisler (1921) wrote it by looking at male pregnancy fantasies, not the direct term of womb envy is mentioned but contributed the male envy of female reproductive physiology was directed towards it. Boehm (1930) called it parturition envy instead, Zilboorg (1944) called it women envy, and Phyllis Chesler (1978) called it uterus envy.[6]
Vagina envy
Vagina envy denotes the envy males may feel towards females for having a
Criticism
The theory of "womb envy" or "vaginal envy" is criticized based on the position that it indicates how the essence of being a woman lies in motherhood.[17] There are scholars who point out that the woman defined in terms of her essential maternity reduces her to her gender characteristics and could, hence, be exploited or be defined according to the terms of patriarchal logic and phallocentric impositions.[18] Domna Stanton, for instance, drew from Jacques Derrida's work to support this argument,[18] particularly, the theorist's position that "the maternal, which is metaphorized as total being to substantiate a notion that can combat the paternal, represents only one aspect of potential female difference."[19]
See also
- Autogynephilia
References
- ^ a b Horney, Karen (1967). Feminine Psychology. W.W. Norton Company, New York.
- ^ "Karen Horney | German psychoanalyst". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
- ^ McElvaine, Robert S. (2001). Eve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- PMID 4413549.
- ^ Horney, Karen (1942). The collected works of Karen Horney (volume II). W.W. Norton Company, New York.
- ^ .
- ^ Hockenberry, Lindsy (28 March 2017). "How Womb Envy Has Caused Men to Control Women's Bodies". A Medium Corporation.
- ^ Horney, Karen. 1926. The Flight from Womanhood: The Masculinity-Complex in Women as Viewed by Men and by Women. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 7:324–39.
- ^ Mead, Margaret. 1949. Male and Female: A Study of the Sexes in a Changing World. New York: William Morrow.
- ^ ISBN 9780252074240.
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 978-0547148342.
- ^ Carducci, Bernardo J. The Psychology of Personality: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications. Wiley. p. 185.
- ^ McElvaine, Robert S. (2000) Eve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History McGraw-Hill, New York pp. 72–78.
- ^ Ruitenbeek, Hendrik (1966) Psychoanalysis and Male Sexuality Rowman & Littlefield, New York p. 144
- PMID 8226185.
- ISBN 9780547148342.
- ^ ISBN 0415168570.
- ISBN 0253359805.