Lacan.

In "Signification of the Phallus," Lacan develops his argument about the nature of the "phallus" not as a concept, object, organ, or lack of organ. Though his ideals are a little difficult to follow, he starts out with the castration complex. Mother does not have a phallus (well, he does mention the clitoris being the equivalent of the "male phallus") and, therefore, worships this phallus. Her children view this search as something they must fulfill and try to please her by embodying this power that the "phallus" is supposed to represent. Unlike Freud, Lacan writes about how the phallus has less to do with castration or libido and more to do with the mental power or emergence of self that comes by harnessing the phallus. That means that the phallus is open to interpretation; there's no dictionary definition like "erected penis" or "having to do with the ego of the penis."

Women, in the search for the phallus, reject femininity and consequently create a male-driven self. Here we find Lacan's interpretation of the Oedipal complex, which veers in a different direction than Freud's argument of the "phallus" and desire in families. Regardless of a woman's role in the home sphere, though, there is always that idea of a little girl wondering why her father has what her mother doesn't; she views her own anatomical difference as something "lacking" rather than something "different." Men try to find signification for the worshipping of their phallus by finding it in different women. Different kinds of women can give his penis attention and feed his ego in different ways, which is why it is so acceptable for men to go searching for this affirmation. Though Freud would describe the full understanding of one's genital organs as phallic, Lacan sees it as more of a psychological issue. Why is it that the castration complex revolves around the phallus? Why is it that men's organs and egos cannot stand side-by-side with women's organs and egos? Lacan questions these through his exploration of love and the familial dynamic.

That being said, the queer side of Lacan's theory represents the nature of homosexual relationships. Trying to find satisfaction in a homosexual relationship between two men is easier because of the presence of the penis in their encounters. With regards to homosexual relationships between women, there is a wider latitude of desire that passes between them because of that lack of penis. They are, once again, in search for that thing that does not exist between them (sexually and psychologically)--the pride of the "phallus." Why do women have to use strap-ons to make their sexual encounters more pleasurable? This seems to undermine the idea that women can have homosexual relationships without the central phallic symbol (according to Freud's definition of the concept). Queer theory also makes me wonder: Where does the castration complex fall if there is no mother and father to begin with?

The "Other" seems to be the object of one's desire--the holder of one's mind, soul and body. In my mind, once a woman begins to worship this "Other," regardless of sexual orientation, she has given up Freud's idea of the "phallic phase" and rejected her own maturation. Worshipping the "Other" once again ties into the idea of the castration complex and the "phallus" being a representation of the ego held by people with penises.

In "The Mirror Stage..." essay, Lacan talks a lot about people's understanding of self based on one's own image in the mirror. He discusses what it is like to have access to your own image before even understanding fully what we are as humans. That takes me back to Bhabha's description of mimicry and the act of understanding oneself by the act of imitation. Just as we see ourselves in the mirror, we create an "imago," which is basically our sense of self. It represents how much of our lives we have figured out, how much is left to chance, how much is left to time, and the rest, which we cease to care about. I think the mirror stage is that time when we are kids, which he mentions at the beginning of the essay. Before we even know anything else, we learn to recognize our physical images first. Perhaps even before we respond to our names at the drop of a hat, we learn to see ourselves when reflected back at us.

How do we get to our innate ego? Lacan brings up the "I," the ego and simultaneously bears on the sense of self. At the same time, he ends the mirror stage with the complete understand of the "I." Once again, he discusses the "other" as an object of desire, yet this time it leads to discovering the "I" after the "mirror stage" is complete. The "I," however, is different than the narcissistic factor of dwelling on one's self. There is a difference, just as there is a difference between psychological libido and sexual libido that one thinks about or performs. He juxtaposes these two situations and further defines his ideas in this way.

I think it would be hard to do this next part without citing Lacan and Cixous, so I'm just going to use their quotes to signify their relationship. In "The Lack of the Medusa," Cixous illustrates her ideas on feminism and what women are expected to do regardless of what their innate desires are. She challenges the castration complex with an emotional appeal--not one that's whiny in nature, but simple and honest: "guilty of everything, guilty at every turn; for having desires, for not having any; for being frigid, for being "too hot;" for not being both at once; for being too motherly and not enough; for having children and not having any; for nursing and for not nursing..." Women are expected to worship the phallus and Cixous rejects this with the idea that "Woman must write herself." Not to mention the fact that this counters Lacan's idea that "femininity finds refuge in this mask...inherent in desire's phallic mark." Cixous' refuge is not a mask at all; if it is, it is the mask of words and language. Women who write find their "I" without a physical image. The representation of a woman's mind on paper is the most she can discover about herself and that is a very different interpretation about femininity than Lacan illustrates in his theories.