Science in Context Fear and Envy: Sexual Difference and The
Science in Context http://journals.cambridge.org/SIC Additional services for Science in Context: Email alerts: Click here Subscriptions: Click here Commercial reprints: Click here Terms of use : Click here Fear and Envy: Sexual Difference and the Economies of Feminist Critique in Psychoanalytic Discourse José Brunner Science in Context / Volume 10 / Issue 01 / March 1997, pp 129 - 170 DOI: 10.1017/S0269889700000302, Published online: 26 September 2008 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0269889700000302 How to cite this article: José Brunner (1997). Fear and Envy: Sexual Difference and the Economies of Feminist Critique in Psychoanalytic Discourse. Science in Context, 10, pp 129-170 doi:10.1017/ S0269889700000302 Request Permissions : Click here Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/SIC, IP address: 109.66.70.204 on 12 Feb 2014 Science in Context 10, I (1997), pp. 129-170 JOSfiBRUNNER Fear and Envy: Sexual Difference and the Economies of Feminist Critique in Psychoanalytic Discourse The Argument This essay examines Freud's construction of a mythical moment during early childhood, in which differences between male and female sexual identities are said to originate. It focuses on the way in which Freud divides fear and envy between the sexes, allocating the emotion of (castration) fear to men, and that of (penis) envy to women. On the one hand, the problems of this construction are pointed out, but on the other hand, it is shown that even a much-maligned myth may still provide food for thought. Then, four critiques of Freud which have been articulated by prominent feminist psychoanalysts — Karen Horney, Nancy Chodorow, Luce Irigaray, and Jessica Benjamin — are presented, as well as the alternative visions of sexual identities which these thinkers have developed.
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