Freud's Perspective

Although this youtube video is a comedic representation of 'modern' fetish, in actuality it contains some sharp insight into Freud's work in "Fetishism" and possibly extends the argument beyond what was originally intended. Most of his theories are based typically on the male aspect of the respected argument as is work on fetish's. Yet though lacking in a female counterpart, due to the fact that there are a few previous relevant theories that do have a basic ground work in both male and female aspect, 'Fetishism' can be extended into what Freud may have argued as to how it may have been applied in the case of women. Much of the fetish idea has its roots in the Oedipus/Electra complex as well as castration anxiety/penis envy. These set up a dualistic transition to fetish in that the fetish stems from these two sets of ideas as well as them showing how a possible female application, from Freud's perspective, is possible.

The Oedipus Complex is the focal point that eventually leads to the possible outcome of fetish development. Since none are free from the fact that "the oracle laid the same curse upon us...[and] it is the fate of all of us..." (Freud 816) to go through this complex everyone must deal with the same initial shock of realization that accompanies this stage of life. Freud sets out a female counter part in this stage as being the Electra Complex. One of the outcomes, which is in direct relation to fetish's, is castration anxiety, in which the young boy, after repressing his desire for the mother and identifying with the father, has a moment where he is fearful that he will have his penis removed by his father. The female aspect that Freud theorized was penis envy. Here instead of fearing that the father for castration reasons, the daughter envies the father for having what she lacks; a penis. These are obvious simplifications, yet they are the keys that lead to the basis of fetish and that is that "the fetish is a substitute for the penis...for the woman's (the mother's) penis...to preserve it from extinction" (Freud 842). This is only the case for males as it is through the repression of the shock from the lack of a mothers penis that leads to a possible development of fetishes. These fetishes become the outlet for the repression. In the case of a female, Freud might be seen to agree with an argument that a female fetish develops out of repression of knowledge that she lacks a penis in which the father has. For males it is a repression of anxiety of a possible loss and for females it maybe be a repression of desire for what she doesn't have or in a sense, fright of castration becomes the fright of being incomplete turning into a desire to gain what is missing.

So where does the video come in? Here it is seen a male fetish vs female fetish as well as showing that female fetishes' do exist. A lot relies on typical male dominated stereotypes, but that's all the better from a Freudian perspective. The husbands 'fetish' is quickly seen as represented by the immediate, uncomplicated (idea wise) leather outfit, which Freud might argue is an equivalent to "the last moment in which the woman could still be regarded as phallic" (Freud 843). But more specifically this is an object oriented choice, which is the basis for a fetish. However, the wife's 'object choice' is vastly different. Her fetish is emotionally oriented around her husband crying. This easily matches Freud's idea of penis envy and the power involved. Her choice here is a situation in which the male 'authority' is 'castrated' and thus she gains sexuality through a power reversal dominance. The wife's emotional memory trigger leads her to substitute the lack of power/penis for this fetish. Again this is a Freudian outlook on how 'Fetishism' extends to the possible female perspective of fetish (ie: this is a disclaimer. These views are not those of the author [me] and are not intended to offend any possible readers...yada yada :)


Freud, Sigmund. "The Interpretation of Dreams", "Fetishism". Ed. Vincent Leitch. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Second Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc, 2010. Print.