Anal eroticism, in
psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
, is sensuous pleasure derived from anal sensations.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
, the founder of psychoanalysis, hypothesized that the
anal stage of childhood
psychosexual development was marked by the predominance of anal eroticism.
Developmental
In 1973, the psychoanalyst
D. W. Winnicott spoke of "the tremendous pleasure that belongs to the doing of a motion just exactly when the impulse comes...another little orgy that enriches the life of the infant". In
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
's theory of
psychosexual development, the anus becomes the primary erogenous zone between the ages of 18 months and three years. The main social context for this experience is the process of
toilet training
Toilet training (also potty training or toilet learning) is the process of training someone, particularly a toddler or infant, to use the toilet for urination and defecation. Attitudes toward training in recent history have fluctuated substantial ...
, where anal pleasure becomes associated with the control of bowel movements. In his 1908 article ''Character and Anal Erotism'', Freud argued that, through
reaction formation
In psychoanalytic theory, reaction formation () is a defense mechanism in which emotions, desires and impulses that are anxiety-producing or unacceptable to the Ego (Freudian), ego are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency.Char ...
s and
sublimation, anal eroticism could turn in later life into character traits such as obstinacy, orderliness and meanness.
The psychoanalyst
Sándor Ferenczi
Sándor Ferenczi (; 7 July 1873 – 22 May 1933) was a Hungarian Psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst, a key theorist of the psychoanalytic school and a close associate of Sigmund Freud.
Biography
Born Sándor Fraenkel to Baruch Fränkel and Rosa ...
extended Freud's findings to cover the sublimation of anal eroticism into aesthetic experiences such as painting and sculpture, as well as into an interest in money. In 1946, the psychoanalyst
Otto Fenichel
Otto Fenichel (; 2 December 1897, Vienna – 22 January 1946, Los Angeles) was an Austrian psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation". He was born into a prominent family of Jewish lawyers.
Education and psychoanalytic affiliations
Otto ...
linked anal eroticism to feelings of
disgust
Disgust (, from Latin , ) is an emotional response of rejection or revulsion to something potentially contagious or something considered offensive, distasteful or unpleasant. In ''The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals'', Charles D ...
, to
masochism, and to
pornography
Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...
.
The psychoanalyst
Julia Kristeva
Julia Kristeva (; ; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, ; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and novelist who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She has taught at Colum ...
would subsequently explore anal eroticism in connection with her concept of
abjection
In critical theory, abjection is the state of being cast off and separated from norms and rules, especially on the scale of society and morality. The term has been explored in post-structuralism as that which inherently disturbs conventional ident ...
.
[F. L. Restuccia, ''Melancholics in Love'' (2000) p. 66]
See also
References
Further reading
*
Susan Isaacs, 'Penis-Feces-Child', ''International Journal of Psychoanalysis'' VIII (1927)
*
Jack Morin, ''Anal Pleasure and Health: A Guide for Men, Women and Couples'', 4th edition, San Francisco,
Down There Press, 2010,
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anal Eroticism
Freudian psychology
Psychoanalytic terminology