Sigmund Freud contributed to our lexicon. If Betty Friedan had not died in February and if she were still around, she might have something to say on the sixth of May, the 150th anniversary of Freud's birth.
Because there were never neutrals with Freudisms, the conflict and intensity of his ideas and phrases signified so much and the terms were loaded. The meanings were shaped against his constructions. Oedipal complex, phallic constructs... Betty Friedan had something to say about Freudian truth and how the feminine mystique derived its power from Freudian thought. She wrote about it in a chapter called The Sexual Solipsism of Sigmund Freud in her book, The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963 and a best-seller.
Frustration with the opportunities unavailable to women, or glass ceilings, or limited child care options or male-centric meetings or the career limitations associated with housewifery at a time when Rosie-the-Riveter was still in the memories for women-who-worked made Freud re-relevant in the '60s and '70s.
Maybe it was this Freudian social psychoanalysis redux on a large scale that made women realize it was an issue outside of the individual and related to socialization of women within the American work and family frameworks. Women began to wonder if these yearnings for participating in different ways within society and addressing internal conflicts were bigger than Freud's ideas. Women began to scoff at the idea that this yearning was the result of girls discovering at the age of four that they were missing something really special.
We're still wondering, maybe still today, what 'it' is. Is Freud still relevant? This Turkish blogger seemed bored by Freud. Bourbon Cowboy blogger writes about a lot of important anniversary dates to remember but Freud only gets this: he "prescribed cocaine like it was Prozac." The On Balance blog at WaPo reveals the female ambivalence even today... AP's 150 Years of Freud here, NYC Mayor declares tomorrow Sigmund Freud Day??here, a story about his last living patient here, and a good blog site by a psychotherapist on Freud here (cute design, too). Today's relevance of Freud, especially his ideas of denial, the unconscious and ambivalence in this USA Today article and the NYTimes on Freud here. Freud and tolitarianism - a good think piece on this anniversary is here.
Sigmund Freud. Always intense conflict. Always intense debate. Born 150 years ago tomorrow...
I think he's still relevant. He wasn't perfect, no one is but his work or his dedication to his work and his own need to find answers contributed to his many observations.
Informative post.
Posted by: Anastasia | May 05, 2006 at 07:20 PM
Another link for you: I wrote something in tribute and friendly criticism on "derealization".
http://posthegemony.blogspot.com/2006/05/derealization.html
Posted by: Jon | May 07, 2006 at 12:37 PM