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Essay on 'analysis of "distrust between the sexes'

Decent Essays

Brody Carrasco
Professor Ferguson
English 61208
6 October 2014
An Analysis of Dr. Horney’s “The Distrust between the Sexes”
In Dr. Horney’s “The Distrust Between the Sexes,” she explains the “several psychological reasons” for the unease in a relationship. Dr. Horney explains the discomfort in a couple’s bond with three causes. Horney argues there are “individual factors” that causes “poor relationships between men and women” that might “be pertinent ones” (340). The reality of what she argues however is in her “commonplace” theories. These theories help give the reader better comprehension of the problems or distrusts in a relationship. To better understand Dr. Horney’s theory as to the causes of the “Distrust Between the Sexes,” …show more content…

Dr. Horney’s second cause, as she explains, can be traced to “certain traits of male psychology” (343). The basic paradox of man’s attitude towards women is, “even men who consciously have a very positive relationship with women and hold them high in high esteem as human beings.” They get this from the experience they had from their mothers. Then, she goes to the “attitudes of men towards women during various eras of history and in different cultures.” Also, she insists in regards to “sexual relationships with women, but also, and often more so, in nonsexual situations, such as in their general evaluation of women” (344). She then gives us an example: Adam and Eve. She tells us that “the Old Testament is outspokenly patriarchal.” She argues that there is “no maternal goddess.” Then, she goes on to remind that the two stories in the bible are both “male bias.” She thinks that the stories of Adam and Eve “have damaged the relationship between the sexes from the earliest times to the present” with two elements: “one born out of resentment, the other out of anxiety.”
The last clause, as Dr.Horney explains, is the sexual tensions of men and women. Horney tells us that the tension starts at the “origin” then progresses through the childhood. Our understanding of the origin enables us to understand better the fear of love that many of us

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