Re: Foucault, Freud and Sex--why the secret?

Patrick Powers (powers@goofy.stat.unc.edu)
30 Nov 1994 17:10:18 GMT

In article <3bgbvtINN33l@hpsdlmf7.sdd.hp.com>,
Gerold Firl <geroldf@sdd.hp.com> wrote:
<In article <3atisr$aer@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu> dunn_ec@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Elizabeth C Dunn) writes:
<
<>I asked, "why is sex the big secret?" Warren told me to reread the part
<>obout the Oedipus complex. I did---I still don't get it. can anybody
<>explain?
<
<At certain times, in certain places, oedipal conflict has probably been an
<important part of the "family romance" which helps to construct the way
<individuals in that time and place develop their particular sexuality. But
<I don't think the oedipus complex is of universal significance in the human
<dynamic between individual drives and their social organisation/channeling.
<It just doesn't loom very large in many human cultures.
<

The idea is that the son desires the mother but fears the power of the father.
The son's fear is so great that he must repress the desire, even in his
own thoughts. Thus the big secret. When I first encountered this theory
it seemed contrived, but later experience has convinced me it is a profound
insight. I would be interested in the situation in other cultures.