Penis envy in Freudian psychoanalysis refers to the theorized reaction of a girl during her psychosexual development to the realization that she does not have a penis. Freud considered this realization a defining moment in the development of gender and sexual identity for women - the parallel reaction in boys to the realization that women do not have a penis being castration anxiety. In contemporary culture, the term sometimes refers inexactly or metaphorically to women who are presumed to wish they were men.
The psychoanalytical concept of penis envy is unrelated to the "small penis syndrome" which is the anxiety of thinking one's penis is too small (though Otto Fenichel did explore the possibility of a boy's envy for the adult penis).
Read more about Penis Envy: Freud's Theory, See Also
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