I read a book once from a respected psychologist with a Ph.D in psychology and [SHE] said that ALL girls before or after puberty but more notably WHILE going through puberty develop small 'emotional' crushes on their fathers. While most girls grow out of it quite quickly some hold onto this crush for a year or more afterwards. This author noted however that this crush wasn't very sexual in nature... it was an "innocent" crush that, however, had a romantic aspect. I bet 100% of the girls out there will deny it because it's so shocking to admit that, yes, they had a crush on their father. Has anyone heard of this and if so, is this author true in what she writes?
2007-01-18 04:25:16 · 28 answers · asked by Thomas 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
I think you're talking about an Electra complex (term coined by Carl Jung), similar to an Oedipus complex. I found a link about it, so instead of a big copy & paste, I just posted it below.
2007-01-18 04:29:15 · answer #1 · answered by Mickey Mouse Spears 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I have heard this before and this was a known concept since 1800s. Dr. Sigmund Freud even proved that not only girls, but also boys do this. I mean boys could be intimate with their mother while girls intimate with their fathers. Some English scholars believe that this was also put in front of the public during Elizabethan Era. For example, Shakespeareian drama such as Macbeth has some implications of mother-son intimacy.
Anyway, please note that this is not a common popular thing happening all over the world. This theory only applied to certain group of people. Also there are two special words of mother-son and father-daughter love. Mother-son=Oedipus complex... I don't remembr the father-daughter...
2007-01-18 04:37:55 · answer #2 · answered by MSS 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well there's always the whole, "I want to marry my daddy" thing when girls are very young, but I've never heard of during puberty and after unless it's oedipus syndrome. I'm surprised that she would think 100% of girls feel this way. I don't remember ever having a crush on my dad...... but who knows. That's crazy! She's probably going out on a limb with new studies or something.
2007-01-18 04:36:07 · answer #3 · answered by Charlene L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've heard of this. I don't think that girls will deny it b/c of obvious reasons, but many girls don't typically ever notice this, thus, giving a valid excuse to deny it.
There's a 14 year old girl in my extended family who currently has an obvious crush on her uncle because he does SO much for her and he & his wife take her everywhere with them. They've had to cut back on time they spend with her because of this. I agree that's it's totally non-sexual. It's just a fascination with someone who will bend over backwards to give you the world. I'm really not even sure if I would call it a crush. However, I don't think it's healthy and should be stopped as early as possible.
2007-01-18 04:30:36 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I can relate. But like the man said it was not a romantic crush. I was about 4 or 5 and I loved my dad. He told me I even asked him to marry me at one time. But it was innocent. I was never, NEVER molested by him! I think that I just loved my father.
I did not know the difference between love for your family and love for a significant other. But as I grew up I realized the difference.
I think that the girls in here that are denying that they ever did have some insecurities about admitting it because they themselves dont know to explain it. Its like alot of girls will deny masturbation because they are embarassed, when really alot of girls do it. Its all a part of growing up. HELLO!
2007-01-18 04:44:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
That's definately NOT true! What if you have never met you're father, or you don't live with him..... or he hits you're mother and you hate him.... or what if his serving life sentence in jail...... or what if you are mentally retarded?
Tell me how you're going to develope a crush then......?
Oh and by the way the person that wrote that probably had a crush on their father and feel terrible about it and desperately wants company so she's assuming that she's normal ... and its just that no one else will admit this.... lol.... but actually she's not normal.
2007-01-18 04:33:40 · answer #6 · answered by Other sheep 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well I can say I never had a crush on my Dad. I think little girls kinda look at their Dads (or Father figures) as a kind of hero..but not a romantic crush. My girls kinda think of their Dad as a do-it-all type of Super Hero. I know this won't last for long but right now when they are little its great they see him in this light. As for thinking romantically...I don't agree at all.
2007-01-18 05:55:44 · answer #7 · answered by Laceyfromcali 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Um, Im not sure where this author got her information but I never went through anything like that when I was going through puberty. I had crushes on boys in my school, not my father. YUCK!!
2007-01-18 04:29:24 · answer #8 · answered by babydahl_14 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am very positive this respected psychologist, who you can't remember, has a lot of evidence to support her statement. I'm amazed she doesn't have a talk show or hasn't otherwise become famous seeing as women outnumber men 3 to 1 in the world.
2007-01-25 05:40:31 · answer #9 · answered by olivia 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think that's disturbing lol as a girl I never had a crush on my dad, I dont think anyone would unless they were sexually abused by them, if u are attracted to ur own father then that should raise up a red flag cause that isnt a good sign...its very disturbing.
2007-01-18 04:30:04 · answer #10 · answered by Dia 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋