Adler explains woman’s inferiority complex through her total situation, not anatomy

Evidence

Adler departed from Freud because he understood the inadequacies of a system that bases the development of human life on sexuality alone: he means to reintegrate sexuality into the total personality; while for Freud all behavior is driven by desire, that is, by seeking pleasure, Adler sees man as aiming at certain goals; he replaces drives with motives, finality, and plans; he raises intelligence to such heights that for him sexuality often has only symbolic value. … As for woman, her inferiority complex manifests itself in a rejection out of shame of her femininity: it is not the absence of a penis that unleashes this complex but the total situation; the girl envies the phallus only as a symbol of the privileges granted to boys; the father’s place in the family, the universal predominance of males, and upbringing all confirm her idea of masculine superiority. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 124

Categorization

• DEFINE: Beauvoir distinguishes Adler’s situation-based account of female inferiority from Freud’s anatomical one, which matters for her own concept of ‘situation’ she will develop.
• XREF: Adler’s ‘masculine protest’ and total-situation account anticipates Beauvoir’s own existential situation-based analysis — the seed of her disagreement with psychoanalysis. — connects to: Women’s so-called inferiority complexes stem from real, objective restrictions — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1037; Woman’s traits stem from her situation, not biology — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1740; Biologizing women’s inferiority is scientifically baseless and ethically vacuous — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 104 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Women’s so-called inferiority complexes stem from real, objective restrictions #corroborates (0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1037
• Woman’s traits stem from her situation, not biology #corroborates (0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1740
• Women’s alleged faults arise from their enclosed condition, not innate nature #corroborates (0.92) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1745
• Historical insignificance caused women’s inferiority, not the reverse. #corroborates (0.88) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 289
• Biologizing women’s inferiority is scientifically baseless and ethically vacuous #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 104
• Woman’s exclusion from men’s labor and thought, not her weakness, explains her oppression #expands (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 167