In Freud's visit to the United States he received a new understanding of women.
and obviously did not appreciate it. The fact was that to Freud, women were a.
strange, inferior, less-than-human species. He saw them as childlike dolls, who.
existed in terms only of man's love, to love man and serve his needs. It was the.
same kind of unconscious thought that made man for many centuries see the sun.
only as a bright object that revolved around the earth. Freud grew up with this.
attitude built in by his culture. This was not only the culture of Victorian.
Vienna, but Jewish culture which he was born into, where men said the daily prayer:.
"I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast not created me a woman," and women prayed:.
"I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou has created me according to Thy will." (1905;.
Contributions to the Sexual Theory, 1910.).
.
Freud's reasons for having these feelings, more than likely stems back to his.
childhood. Freud's mother was the pretty, docile bride of a man twice her age;.
his father ruled the family with authority, which was traditional in Jewish families of this.
time. His mother adored the young Sigmund, her first son, and thought him.
destined for greatness; she seemed to exist only to gratify his every wish. His.
own memories of being jealous of his father, whose every wish was gratified,.
were the basis of his theory of the Oedipus complex and more than likely the.
reason for him having a problem with the feminist movement depicted in Ragtime.
at the time of his visit to America. (2000, Introduction to.
Freud October 29).
.
Freud's home lifestyle consisted of his wife, sister, and mother tending to his.
every need, just as his father had lived when Sigmund was a boy. When the noise.
of his sisters' piano interrupted his studies, the piano "disappeared", Anna.
Freud recalled years later, "and with it all opportunities for his sisters to.
become musicians."(2000, Introduction to Freud, October 29). Freud did not see.
