ABSTRACT

For a long time, the author used to think that feminists ought to choose Lacan's femininity theory over Freud's. Although the author consider Freud the greater thinker, his eternal harping on penis envy and motherhood as the solution to the "problem" of femininity struck the author as intellectually wrongheaded, and misogynist too. Compared to this, Lacan seemed positively upbeat. For him, femininity is a position constructed in language, a position that can be taken up by men as well as women. Freud recognized that he spoke about femininity in ways that did not "always sound friendly" to women. Of course, Freud was unhappy about the sorry psychological state of women of thirty. Since Lacanian theory defines femininity as a specific relationship to the phallus, no discussion of femininity in Lacan can afford to overlook what he has to say about this contested symbol.