Penis envy: Encyclopedia II - Penis envy - Feminist criticisms and disputation

Penis envy - Feminist criticisms and disputation

Feminists generally regard this theory as sexist. In turn, feminists themselves have been accused of suffering from penis envy, as traditionally masculine traits have been valued over feminine ones by many 20th Century and 21st Century feminists. Historically, feminists have explained that penis envy existed as the result of a male-dominated patriarchy, and "penis envy" was the understandable frustration and desire to participate in the power structure, which oppressed women. Women were denied entry into business and academia, and medicine and religion. A woman wanting to be an orthodox rabbi or Catholic priest was denied, and any such "penis envy" may well reflect such frustration at social inequality. Unlike the falsified predictions of Freudian penis envy, and evolutionary psychology penis envy, feminist theories predict that penis envy declines as society becomes more egalitarian, and more women are placed in the highest levels of power.

Whether or not penis envy exists in all women is a matter of debate. However, it is unarguable that some women do have penis envy, as proven by some women saying (without sarcasm) "I wish I had a penis", although it may often be situation-specific, such as the desire to urinate publicly, or the convenience provided by the penis in urination (or the inconvenience of removing articles of clothing and squatting for female urination), as a response to frequent urinary tract infection some women seem predisposed to having, or as a result of sexual frustration. In such instances, a woman may be expressing frustration, and not necessarily a dissatisfaction with her gender and sexual identity; contrary to the claims of "penis envy" the majority of women express tremendous satisfaction with their gender and sexual identity. Of course, all sorts of sexual envy exist on a nonpolitical level as well-- there are members of both genders who fantasize about having sex in the other gender's body for reasons other than power.

Many feminists believe that: due to what they saw as the extensive privilege of males compared to females, and that in its time it was true: women wanted these rights, and after the success of the women's rights movement, this penis envy ended for all but a few women.

Many feminists have mostly rejected Freud's concept of penis envy and:

• dismissed psychoanalysis as a project of patriarchy,
• essentializing femininity thus reclaiming difference as an asset,

Critics of feminist theory, argue that the idea of patriarchy is, in itself, essentialism.

Gloria Steinem wrote a series of articles, popular among feminists, "if men had vaginas" if "men could menstruate" arguing men secretly envy menstruation as a reply to penis-envy.

Feminists have initiaged "vagina pride", partly popularized by The Vagina Monologues as a response to "penis envy".

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Feminist criticisms and disputation", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki