Psychoanalysis of the female sexuality

According to Freud both sexes undergo a similar libidinal development at a young age. The sensation a boy gets from penile stimulation the girl gets from clitoral stimulation which acts as a “truncated penis”, while the vagina remains undiscovered. Freud argues that this sort of active masturbation, and in fact all libido, is masculine. The development of the feminine sexuality occurs as the girl’s sexuality becomes more passive. This is a natural outcome of Freud’s theories, which are all based on the assumption that the girl suffers from penis-envy.

Freudian analysis holds that once a girl learns about the male sexual organ and juxtaposes it with hers, her clitoris seems insignificant. This develops into an oedipal complex as the girl desires her father to give her a penis. She only takes her feminine role once she shifts her sexual focus on her vagina, which becomes a receptacle for the long-coveted penis. Her desire for a penis is then replaced by a desire to reproduce and give birth to a boy so the woman can be compensated by transferring to her son all the ambition which she has been obliged to suppress in herself.

It is important to note that according to Freudian analysis female sexuality stems from penis-envy, and penis-envy should be interpreted in the anatomical sense.

Karen Horney interprets female sexuality differently. Though her theory still incorporates penis-envy, it is not due to some anatomical defect but rather is a “defensive symptom, protecting the woman from the political, social, and economic condition that is hers.” Furthermore, the girl discovers her vagina at a much younger age, though due to cultural taboos about incest and her desire for her father she suppresses this discovery.

Other female psychologists such as Klein has similar theories, but the understanding of female sexuality was looked at from a masculine standpoint for a long time.