Phallic and seminal masculinity
A theoretical and clinical confusion
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9056367 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karl Figlio (0000-0002-7073-0338, 24 Rosebery Avenue, Colchester CO1 2UJ, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 119-139 |
| Publication date | 2010-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1745-8315.2009.00215.x |
| PMID | 20433478 |
| OpenAlex | W2164027036 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 25 |
Both inside and outside psychoanalysis, the word, 'seminal', is used to praise a creative contribution to science and culture. Rarely, however, does it refer to male procreativity, to the structures and functions that subserve it or to the anxiety related to a threat to it. This situation becomes evident in the concept of castration anxiety, which typically refers, with Freud, to cutting off the penis and not to extirpating the testicles. This phallic theory has been debated, repudiated and ignored. While there is an alternative literature on non-phallic masculinity, it is scattered and rarely refers to seminal function. Freud's theory meets his requirement for a well-articulated representation of absolute loss as an experience, but this clear structure--and its repudiation--obscure the observation and theory of the internal world of the male. I propose the concepts of 'seminal masculinity' and 'seminal castration', which I ground in Melanie Klein's concept of depressive anxiety. I contrast them with phallic masculinity and phallic castration anxiety, which I ground in her concept of paranoid-schizoid anxiety. I argue that they meet Freud's requirement that castration be a potential experience and that understanding masculinity demands such a basis
Anxiety · Masculinity · Phallic stage · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology
Three Tributaries to the Development of Ambivalence
The Inner Space of the Body Image
Interiority and Inner Genital Space in Men
Reactions to Differences Between Prepubertal and Adult Testes and Scrotums
Thalassa
On a Retractile Testis and an Infantile Umbilicus Phobia
The Significance of Scrotal Sac and Testicles for the Prepuberty Male
The Role of the Testicles in Male Psychological Development
Outside and Inside, Male and Female
The Influence of Testicular Sensory Stimuli on the Dream
The Phallic Astration Complex and Primary Femininity
The Defilement Complex
Re-Reading “Little Hans”
Riddles of Masculinity
The Psychological Significance of Testicular Problems
Some Observations on the Role of the Scrotal Sac and Testicles
Masculinity Unraveled
The Testes and Body–Image Formation in Transvestitism
The Development of Masculinity
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,38 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2025 (16) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |