Sigmund Freud's Theory: Self Awareness Of Self

Human beings are always being compared to other animals. How are we similar? How are we different? One of the most compared features between humans and other animals is self-awareness. Self-awareness is the ability of an individual who knows that they have a distinct identity that separates them from others. As children and infants we do not possesses we have no awareness of self and cannot tell the differences between other humans and material objects. Only gradually do we as children start to grasp the idea that others have distinct identities, consciousness, and a need to separate from their own. The emergence of awareness of self is a much debated on topic and has many contrasting theoretical perspectives. Within this heated topic there …show more content…
According to Freud, the learning of gender identity to infants and young children solely center on if the child has a penis. If the child has a penis the infant is considered a boy if the infant lacks a penis then the infant is considered a girl. At a round the age of four or five, the theory goes, the discipline and autonomy threaten a boy his father demands of him. Fantasizing that the father wishes to remove his penis. The boy recognizes the father as a rival for the affections of his mother. Girls on the other hand suffer from “penis envy” because they do not possess the visible organ that distinguishes them from boys. The mother becomes devalued in the little girl’s eyes because she also lacks a penis and is unable to provide one. When the girl identifies with the mother, she takes over the submissive attitude involved in the recognition of being “second best.” Once this phase is over the child has learned to repress his erotic feelings. The period from about five years of age to puberty, according to Freud is one of latency. Sexual activities are suspended until the biological changes of puberty reactivate erotic desires. The theory that seems the most appropriate and correct to me is Jean Piaget’s theory. This is because Piaget’s theory makes the most sense to me. The way in which he explains each stage of his theory through a period of years life makes it simple to understand and you can connect each stage of his theory to a stage of your life and what you were doing and learning during those years. His theory also holds truth to it unlike that of Sigmund Freud’s theory which seemed sexist and had outrageous statements in