Freud's Stages Of Gender Development

The main stages to Freud’s gender development are the oral stage, anal stage, and phallic stage. Freud believes the things that one thinks or how they feel also plays a role in it. He also feels as the environmental and the things we go threw in life helps mold us. Freud also believes that giving up things helps us grow as well. The way our parents raise us plays the biggest part in gender development. Each individual goes through many stages to reach the gender identity of an adult, in this time the identity or outlook of it changes tremendously. He also believes that the differences in male and female is linked to our different experiences from the infant stage until we are older. The family environment also plays a part the way we are treated …show more content…
The anal stage is when the infants learn how to give back the food threw peeing or the other end. These two stages to me seem gender neutral. There is not any gender identification between male and female in the infant stages. To me the phallic stage differs from the other two because here is where male and female tendencies come in. Freud also believes this stage is tougher on little boys than little girls. He believes it is tougher because the boys have to learn to detach themselves from their mothers and form or learn to identify more with their fathers. It would be tough because most mothers are loving, understanding, and caring. Whereas most fathers are the total opposite, more of the disciplinary. Most girls identify more with their mothers and this will happen for the rest of her …show more content…
In this stage they understand that having sexual relations with their mothers is impossible because they do not have the equipment to make that happen. The girls also realize they cannot have a penis so they now desire a sexual relationship with their fathers. The desires for her father now leads to the girls wanting to completely get their mothers out of the way. They also identify with the mother and realize they need to be sexually pleased by a man and reproduce which is the ultimate female gratification. The girls move the spot of sexual gratification from the clitoris to the vagina, feminine, and passive tendencies are developed. Another important theory for gender development is cognitive development which is simply we form gender identity and development in our early childhood years. In this process it is also believed that children “cognitive filters” which helps them be able to process different information about gender. Children form gender identities off of not only physical traits, but appearance also. They go off things like how people dress, hair style, walk, talk and body features. At this age it is too young to realize and understand that gender identity is something that can change and it is not set in stone. One point that stuck out to me the most is when he referred to sexual orientation. He believes that being homosexual is a gender issue rather than the typical sin or a biological