Freud’s Theory of Prostitution: “The Great Social Evil” (Nash, 2010)
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective asserted that female prostitutes are likely to suffer from depression and have a low self-esteem due to their inability to fully develop through the Psychosexual stages of development, resulting in unresolved internal and external conflicts, many of which have to do with the child’s relationship with her parents. Freud believed that prostitutes were psychologically immature, suffering from neurosis or fixated in an early stage of development. Freud wrote ‘Infant Sexuality’ in 1909, where he explained the that prostitutes exploit their innate sexual perversion because the superego is undeveloped resulting in the woman having an ‘uncivilised’ sexual attitude. In his later work he explains that males come to terms with their mother having a sexual relationship with their father so she is a juxtaposition between a mother and (her bottom half) a sexual object/whore. Therefore, prostitutes are a representation for males of the forbidden love for their mother and the prostitute is being socially irresponsible for not controlling every woman’s subconscious urge to perversion and prostitution!
Enjoy!