Freud's Obsession: Analysis Of A Case Of Hysteria

Ava Jones Jones 1

Engwr 300

Essay 1

Dr. Jordan

Wc:

Freud’s Obsession

After reading Freud’s A Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria, I was struck by the clear obsession with the phallus and his biases frequently being misapplied in the name of psychology. Freud was a very influential voice and pioneered the entire field of psychology, but the harm caused by his practices cannot go unmentioned. Morality and improvement are not one in the same which is excellently showcased by Freud’s inability to sympathize with the female experience. Freud uses his male bias to discredit Dora, the subject of the essay; applies male centered ideas upon her; and leaves one with a feeling of discomfort throughout reading, and despite his influence in the field should not be held in high regard for helping make psychology “great” but rather better than despicable.

Freud posits, “ there has also been a displacement of sensation”(Cultural Conversations 323). He continually tells Dora she is obsessing over the sensation of a man's arousal and avoiding any sight of this arousal in the street with other men. Dora never once, according to Freud, mentions an erection or any kind of interest in this phallic imagery. In the past and even up until very recently, marital sex or any kind of ‘decent’ sexual stimulation was the cure for women's diseases such as hysteria, which Dora suffers from. Clearly we are seeing Freud is pushing his, and societies, own obsession with the ‘all healing’ phallus rather than critically thinking about the experiences of a young woman being different from his