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Introduction
The term sexuality refers to the erotic experience people have and how they express themselves, usually driven by yearning for sexually related pleasures (McAnulty & Burnette 2006). Freud wanted to know to what extent psychology can contribute to the sexual life of a man. He thinks that sexuality is not merely biological, but psychology has a lot of input in its development. Sigmund, therefore, writes the three essays on sexuality and derives several conclusions. In the second essay Freud Sigmund discusses, in details, the psychosexual development of a child. In deed, the psychological analysis of sexuality shed light on the biological, sexual life, and he concludes that psychology is the backbone of human sexuality (Freud, 1905).
Freud claims that psychic representation of human beings is unique as opposed to that of other animals. The essay seeks to elaborate how capability of psychosexual behavior of human beings can conceptualize objects to focus on current and future sexual actions (Weinstein, 2001). Freud accepted the social and the physiological contribution to the development and satisfaction of sexual gratification.
Sexuality has all its roots in anatomical differences of the sexes, but Freud asserts that these factors alone do not constitute sexuality in human beings (Freud, 1905). Sexuality is a complex scenario where the unconscious rides over biology for the production of individuals and pleasure. Freud Sigmund investigated the relationship between psychology and sexual drive. Freud identified four elementary concepts of psychoanalysis including drive, unconscious, repetition and transference.
The Lacanian theory agrees with the Freud’s point of view, but there are some discrepancies in their views. Lacan postulates that, an individual must make a distinction between reality and real (Homer, 2005). That is existence as illustrated by language and the world of fantasy. Psychosexual life is determined by the tension between the social meanings and the real. Lacan finally argues that psychosexual progress is structured around the object’s capacity to identify iconic cryptogram and then finally language. Lacan illustrates sexual drive to be composite of demand and need while unconscious translates to desire and discourse of the other. Lacan equates Freud’s repetition to identity, and the unconscious is triggered by the transference (Homer, 2005).
Lacan is concerned with knowing whether psychoanalysis is the science which he concluded in affirmative because the unconscious is the object under investigation. Lacan claims that the main aim of psychoanalysis is to get rid of desire while accepting the consequences packed with it. Psychoanalysis does not only provide a favorable environment for the subject but also desire is not foregone.
Some current scientists dispute the Freud’s social theory about sexual life but instead favor biological clarification on behaviors of lesbians and gays. Freud argues that there is an alteration on the intent of the drive in the sublimation process while Lacan claim that only the subject change, but the aim remains constant. Sublimation is extremely critical in the prevention of psychic illnesses as well as playing a role in human desire (Weinstein, 2001). Deflection from sexual desire posses some plastic qualities. Freud claims that one sexual desire can take the place of the other and vice versa.
Psychoanalysis of childhood sexual development
The second essay elaborates psychosexual development in infants and how this is represented as the child grows. The psychoanalysis in the infantry discovered how psychology plays a highly significant role rather than biology in the sexuality of human beings. Freud, Lacan and other current psychologists have versions on how sexual development is psychic rather than biological. He, Freud, notates how psychology achieves the progress in sexuality during the genital, concealed, phallic, anal and oral stages in the descending order. Freud proposes five phases of psychic development while Lacan proposes three stages.
The psychic development during the oral stage indicates that infants experience some sexual pleasures at exceptionally early ages. The infants will keep in mind the most pleasurable parts of the body, and will continue experiencing such pleasures every time. Babies suck lips, thumbs and other parts of the body they find pleasure (Weinstein, 2001). This act may continue in some people until adulthood, meaning that sexuality is in psychology, not in the biology. Lacan, on the other hand, argues that from zero to six months, the child is in the real stage. A child is in a mix of confusion involving needs, thoughts and perceptions. The body begins to fragment into several erogenous zones like the vagina, penis, anus and mouth.
Anal stage follows the sucking during two to four years of age. This is the stage when the child trains on matters of toilet usage and the cleanliness of their organs. The child, especially the male, learns how to hold the penis while urinating. This stage determines whether a person will be neat and smart or dirty after reaching adult age. Psychoanalysis postulates that children move from the upper oral to lower erotogenic areas. Some feel that the organs are dirty, and some try to keep it clean, a sense that it is used for other purposes and should be kept clean.
It is further noted that phallus stage follows the anal, and it occurs at about the fourth year of development (Freud, 1905). The psychology revolves around the genitals, and the child becomes more interested in the genitals than other parts of the body. It is the stage where conflict of Oedipal begins, and the child gets attracted to the parent of the opposite sex. Other psychoanalysts referred to the conflict as Electra in females as opposed to Freud who used Oedipal for both sexes.
Lacan shares the same idea with Freud, but he attributes this conflict to the acquisition of language. Girls have lesser psychosexual development than boys. Girls develop penis envy while the boys will fear castration. Lacanian psychoanalysis equates this to the mirror stage when the child identifies the real being he or she is. A child admires the opposite sex and thinks the other is better than him, or her. This is when the male child develops self-ego over female child (Malone & Friedlander, 2000).
Freud discovered that latency phase follows where all the gratification the child was showing in the last three phases are solidified. This is due to the secondary thinking when the sexual compel energy is directed to other activities like schooling, friends and hobbies. There are some scenarios when the oedipal conflict is not repressed, or self-ego is unable to direct the available energy to other activities. Superego overcomes the psychology of the child thus stemming sexual drive.
The last stage of infantile psychosexual development is called genital phase, which usually starts from puberty onwards. Psychic analysis reveals that a person detaches from the parents. It flashes back on the phallic phase and a person resolve what was not done in that stage, but now in a more organized way. It involves symbolic gratifications like relationship, love and adulthood responsibilities (Lear, 2005).
Psychoanalysis in Sexual Drive
Sexuality is as a result of biological function among other factors. This is Freud’s statement when he deliberated on sexual aberrations homosexuality and fetishism among others. Freud criticizes this because the instinct in homosexuality is not characterized by pre-consumed attraction to the opposite sex (Geyskens, 2005). This drive for sex may be loosed in a person, and this does not mean that the sexual object is grave. Two heterosexual individuals may at times fantasize about the same-sex couple, so it can be concluded that homosexual activity makes heterosexual intercourse happen.
Freud proposes that imagination help to define sexual activity, but the true meaning is shaped by variable and vivid human imagination. Psychical manifestations during sexual life are well connected with chemical basis of excitation throughout sex (Geyskens, 2005). Human sexual instinct lies between the physical and the mental. People have different instincts and what differentiate them are their aims and somatic sources. Lacan, on the other hand, refused to link the social theory with the psychic development of human sexuality. He argues that the desires of other people structure the passion of others. He claims that psychoanalysis theory comes as a result of social interaction.
Lacan contributed majorly when he emphasized on language in the make up of an individual and the psychic, sexual life (Malone & Friedlander, 2000). Ann Freud argues that daydreaming is deliberate to restrain masturbation. Both Lacan and Freud have been criticized by many scientists on the use of language and translation. Feminist movements accuse them of neglecting the female and basing their discussions on the male (Lear, 2005). Psychosexual analysis has shed light in the understanding of human sexuality not merely as biological, but also as psychological.
References
Freud, S. (1905). Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume VII.
(1901-1905): A Case of Hysteria, Three Essays on Sexuality and Other Works.
Gemerchak, C. (2004). Everyday Extraordinary: Encountering Fetishism with Marx, Freud and Lacan. Leuven: Leuven university press.
Geyskens, T. (2005). Our original scenes: Freud’s Theory of Sexuality. Leuven: Leuven University Press.
Homer, S. (2005). Jacques. New York, NY: Routledge.
Malone, K. & Friedlander, S. (2000). The Subject of Lacan: A Lacanian Reader for Psychologists. New York, NY: State University of New York Press.
McAnulty, R. & Burnette, M. (2006). Sex and Sexuality. Connecticut, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Weinstein, F. (2001). Freud, psychoanalysis, social theory: the unfulfilled promise. New York, NY: State university of New York Press.
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