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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Freud, the Feminist?

This is Charisse.


Suzanne Brom, in her article “Freud, the Feminist?” does not do a good job in convincing the reader that Freud furthered the feminist agenda. Her recounting of his cases provided interesting information and had she explored the cases further, perhaps she could have made a more compelling argument. Her lack of counterargument hurt her point the most. She did not attempt to give new meaning to Freud’s anti-feminist quotes. Her only justification of Freud’s behavior seemed to be “everyone else was doing it”. Because Freud lived in a society that oppressed women and saw them as less capable and less intelligent than men, Freud had to operate within these bounds. However, her use of Simone de Beauvoir shows that it was possible to look outside look of the current mindset.
With that being said, there was something that could be learned from this article. Brom attempts to answer the question posed by feminists: if “hysteria was a ‘feminine neurosis,” [but] men could be affected as well,” why was it that “hysteria be associated only with the feminine?”(2). She discusses the role that love and caring played in hysteria and said that as women did most of the loving and caring, they were at a higher risk for hysteria. She cites a few of Freud’s cases and shows that women often overexerted themselves to help others  and anyone who had as much responsibility as the women in the 19th century would be more prone to a breakdown.
While this is an interesting response to the question, it is not one that vindicates Freud. A feminist would have asked why is it that women are the ones that do more caring and loving. This kind of question would have pushed a feminist to study their society and perhaps publish something on the topic. However, Freud simply attempted to treat the women that were his patients and not move past them.
This article did make me question my already solidified disdain for Freud, but I fear that Brom was simply not the critic to change my mind.

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