Sigmund Freud has had a vast influence on society; and not all of this influence has been rightful.
The reason is that he mistook the memories of childhood sexual abuse for erotic fantasy; and based on this he made several false conclusions - that children are sexual; that women are an incomplete gender; and that men suffer from the Oedipal complex and women from the Electra complex.
Being a function of a wrong analysis, these analyses are wrong by simple logic.
But it may be important to refute them one by one.
First, children are not sexual.
As a parent, I would know if my daughter was sexual; she is not.
Children are curious, and they may be curious especially about forbidden subjects such as sexuality.
Children may develop crushes on each other or on adults, but this is done at the emotional and not the sexual level.
A child's crush does not involve a sexual component.
It is about emotional intimacy.
Secondly, women are most definitely not an incomplete gender.
The "penis envy" that Freud ascribed to women was a result of a historical accident; the early 20th century European society in which men had all the power, and women were schooled enough in the ideals of equality to want the powers that men had.
We do not see women envying men in places such as Sweden, where women's rights are advanced and women's status is equal to that of men.
Nor do we see women envying men in say Saudi Arabia, where women accept the subservient position as part of their religion.
Freud took an accident of history and generalized it on all of womanhood.
And that was a horrible mistake.
Finally, there is no evidence for either the Oedipal complex or the Electra complex.
There are many children who are close to their parents; but then again children can be close to other people as well, such as for example their teachers.
I was very close to some of my teachers, who were men; and I am a straight male.
My daughter is very close to me, but she does not suffer from the Electra complex.
Clearly Freud was a very important thinker; but that does not mean that he was right about everything.
These are examples of wrong things that came from Freud.
That they came from an iconic figure does not make them rightful.
And it is now up to us to correct his errors.
The reason is that he mistook the memories of childhood sexual abuse for erotic fantasy; and based on this he made several false conclusions - that children are sexual; that women are an incomplete gender; and that men suffer from the Oedipal complex and women from the Electra complex.
Being a function of a wrong analysis, these analyses are wrong by simple logic.
But it may be important to refute them one by one.
First, children are not sexual.
As a parent, I would know if my daughter was sexual; she is not.
Children are curious, and they may be curious especially about forbidden subjects such as sexuality.
Children may develop crushes on each other or on adults, but this is done at the emotional and not the sexual level.
A child's crush does not involve a sexual component.
It is about emotional intimacy.
Secondly, women are most definitely not an incomplete gender.
The "penis envy" that Freud ascribed to women was a result of a historical accident; the early 20th century European society in which men had all the power, and women were schooled enough in the ideals of equality to want the powers that men had.
We do not see women envying men in places such as Sweden, where women's rights are advanced and women's status is equal to that of men.
Nor do we see women envying men in say Saudi Arabia, where women accept the subservient position as part of their religion.
Freud took an accident of history and generalized it on all of womanhood.
And that was a horrible mistake.
Finally, there is no evidence for either the Oedipal complex or the Electra complex.
There are many children who are close to their parents; but then again children can be close to other people as well, such as for example their teachers.
I was very close to some of my teachers, who were men; and I am a straight male.
My daughter is very close to me, but she does not suffer from the Electra complex.
Clearly Freud was a very important thinker; but that does not mean that he was right about everything.
These are examples of wrong things that came from Freud.
That they came from an iconic figure does not make them rightful.
And it is now up to us to correct his errors.
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