‘womb envy’

This pioneering female psychologist dismissed Freud’s ‘penis envy,’ and… Karen Horney retaliated with her own theory of ‘womb envy’ Stephanie Buck in Timeline5 min read Karen Horney might be most famous for proclaiming she never wanted a penis, thank you very much. And if you’re going to talk about her vagina, don’t forget the clitoris. The early 20th century psychoanalyst may have started as an admirer of Freud, but then he published an essay on penis envy that not only upended the field with a controversial take on child psychology, but also framed the personality development of young girls in terms of men. Horney, an accomplished scholar and leader in an institution dominated by men, took Freud, the very founder of psychoanalysis, to task. It exposed her to a rash of criticism, and some of it turned very personal./.../