A third stage which was not discussed by Freud but has been suggested as part of the psychosexual progression is that of the urethral stage. Some analysts have envisioned this phase of psychosexual development as a transitional stage between the anal and phallic stages. As such, it shares some of the characteristics of the earlier anal phase and by way of anticipation some from the subsequent phallic phase. More often than not, the characteristics of this urethral phase tend to be subsumed under the phallic phase. Urethral erotism can be taken to refer to pleasure in urination and the pleasure in urethral retention similar to the anal erotic pleasure of retention or expulsion of feces. The issues here are issues of performance and control. The classic image of urethral expression is the pride of the little boy in seeing how far he can project his urinary stream. Such urethral functioning can also be contaminated with sadistic impulses, often reflecting the persistence of residual anal-sadistic urges. Similar to the loss of bowel control, loss of urethral control (enuresis) can often have a regressive significance that reactivates and assimilates itself into underlying anal conflicts.
The pathological traits deriving from this period are those of competitiveness on the one hand and ambition on the other, probably connected with the need for compensating an underlying sense of shame due to the loss of urethral control. The conflicts over this issue may be the beginnings of the development of penis envy in connection with a feminine sense of shame and inadequacy in being unable to match the male urethral performance. Successful resolution of the urethral phase builds healthy personality traits, which are somewhat analogous to those derived from the anal period. Urethral competence offers a sense of pride and a feeling of self-competence derived from successful urethral functioning. The area of urethral functioning is one in which the small boy can begin to imitate his father’s more adult performance. In this sense then the resolution of urethral conflicts begins to set the stage for and make significant contributions to the shaping of gender identity and the subsequent gender-related identifications.
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