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Womb envy denotes the envy men may feel towards a woman's role in nurturing and sustaining life. In coining the term, the Neo-Freudian psychiatrist Karen Horney (1885–1952) proposed that men experience womb envy more powerfully than women experience penis envy, because "men need to disparage women more than women need to disparage men". [5]
Horney accepted penis envy might occur occasionally in neurotic women, but stated that "womb envy" occurs just as much in men: Horney felt men were envious of a woman's ability to bear children. The degree to which men are driven to success may be merely a substitute for the fact they cannot carry, bear, and nurture children.
Karen Horney — a German psychoanalyst who also placed great emphasis on childhood experiences in psychological development — was a particular advocate of this view. She asserted the concept of "womb envy", and saw "masculine narcissism" [19] as underlying the mainstream Freudian view.
In response to the Freudian concept of penis envy in the development of the feminine Oedipus complex, the German Neo-Freudian psychoanalyst Karen Horney, counter-proposed that girls instead develop "Power envy" rather than penis envy. [22] She also proposed the concept of "womb and vagina envy", the male's envy of the female ability to bear ...
There is an analogy that describes Horney's feminine psychology as optimistic of the world and life affirmation in comparison with Freud's pessimism oriented towards world and life negation. [11] In deconstructing the Freudian concept of penis envy, Horney countered it with the concept of womb envy.
The term feminist psychology was originally coined by Karen Horney. In her book, Feminine Psychology , which is a collection of articles Horney wrote on the subject from 1922–1937, she addresses previously held beliefs about women, relationships, and the effect of society on female psychology.
She can be seen as one of the feminists who were against the penis envy theory explained by Sigmund Freud. In her view it has been shown that cultural factors can explain the tendency of women feeling inferior about their sex. Thus one can say that the "penis envy" is a symbolic representation of the attitude of the women in this culture. [2]
Karen Horney: 1885–1952 Psychoanalysis: Psychoanalyst whose theories of sexuality and of the instinct orientation of psychoanalysis questioned some traditional Freudian views. She is credited with founding feminist psychology in response to Freud's theory of penis envy. [161] [162] Ruth Horowitz: 1910–1997 Also known as Ruth Hartley. [163]