Alfred Adler on sex, feminism, love, marriage
Cooperation Between the Sexes (1978) is a
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Cooperation Between the Sexes (1978) is a compilation, edited and translated by Heinz Ansbacher, of writings by Alfred Adler on sex, feminism, love, marriage, and what those entail in the realm of psychology. According to Ansbacher (1978), Alfred Adler's theory of sexuality "is best characterized as the opposite of the Freud's" (Ansbacher, 1978, p. v). Furthermore, Ansbacher believed that since Adler believed in the unity of the personality, "a presentation of his sexual theories will be practically an introduction to his theory of personality as a whole" (p. v). To Adler, sex, social relations, and work were the three greatest problems in life that a person must face (Ansbacher, 1978, p. v). Accordingly, Ansbacher has set up this book to cover those dilemmas in four chapters that discuss the myth of women's inferiority, masculine protest and a critique of Freud, sexuality, and love and marriage. Chapter One, titled ôThe Myth of WomenÆs Inferiority,ö discusses the division of labor and sexual dimorphism, the cultural situation at the time of the writing, effects of the myth on women and children, and a brief essay on the question of birth control and abortion. Adler asserts that division of labor is necessary for the preservation of human society, and that ôevery person must fill a specific place at some pointö (p. 3). If some one refuses to fulfill his or her obligation to society by participating in the division of labor then he or she can be seen to be an
. . .
protest against the inequality with men. They
compulsion of a law created by men through which women
are robbed of the free decision regarding their fate
must be felt by every woman as a humiliation. Within
this law a woman plays less the role of a person than
that of a function in the interest of progeny (p. 30).
In Chapter Two, Adler uses masculine protest, and how it is exhibited in mental health, as a means of critiquing Freud. According to Adler, masculine protest develops when a person is uncertain of his or her own competence and so vacillates between the ôinferiorö feminine tendencies of anxiety and related phenomena and the ôsuperiorö masculine tendencies of aggression and compulsion phenomena. Adler then discusses the various neuroses that arise as a result of this tension and compares his viewpoint to that of FreudÆs.
Chapter Three is a discussion of human sexuality and the relation between the sexual organs and the development of the personality. In AdlerÆs opinion, the size of an individualÆs sexual organs and how they develop is directly related to their reaction to the environment around them (p. 78). WomenÆs sexuality and the tendency for women to be ôfrigidö even when their sexua
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