DamaNegra said:
I saw this today in class and thought it was hilarious. According to Freud, all men have 'castration anxiety'. That is, they fear losing their penis.
Is this as ridiculous as it sounds?
Yes, it's ridiculous. But you also have to understand the context of why Freud said that.
"Castration anxiety" stems from the Oedipus Complex, which is Freud's theory that all boys eventually fall in love with their mothers (yes, in a sexual way). From this attraction (supposedly), the boy begins to fear that if his secret is ever revealed, that his father will retaliate by cutting off his penis.
It doesn't mean that a man, in general, walks around with some general fear that he'll somehow lose their penis.
When the theory is compared with Freud's actual life, it's easy to see why he came up with such a laughable theory. Seems he had the hots for his own mom and step mother (his step mother was considerably younger than his father), and didn't really like his dad. Freud also admitted to having a slew of his own psychosomatic disorders and neuroses. So, he for some reason took his own problems and assumed that every guy had them.
Freud was a weird dude.