Sigmund Freud proposed that in a child's early years there is a pre-occupation with the mouth. This is known as the "oral stage."
Then the child typically moves on to the "anal stage" which is characterised by the child deriving pleasure from bowel movements. The child discovers the pleasure which comes from the exercise of power (in this instance the power to hold on or let go.)
After the anal stage the child's development will be able to move on to the "phallic stage" when the child's focus ...
In common usage, the phrases "anally retentive," "anal-retentive" or "anal" are used to describe a certain style of behavior, and it is implied that this is due to a person clenching their anal sphincter, causing retention of feces (although this is not necessarily literally the case, or even intended literally.)
A person characterized as anal-retentive is perceived as worrying excessively about "passing feces": little details of fecal consistency, color and aroma or as otherwise being overly uptight o ...
Phil Hartman played a series of popular characters on the NBC sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live," including the "Anal-Retentive Chef," the "Anal-Retentive Sportsman" and the "Anal-Retentive Carpenter."
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