The androcentric veil. Male and female between nature and propaganda

Abstract

The term “androcentric veil” was used by Bruno Bettelheim to indicate that universally widespread attitude whereby only the deeds and affairs of men are considered to be of value, and the role of women in human history is obscured. In the light of Bettelheim’s observations on the role of psychoanalysis, this paper examines the customary representation of the male/female relationship. Freud himself repeatedly expressed the wish that scientific research – and biology in particular – could shed light on the physiological components of mental processes. Convinced that it was not possible to speak scientifically about feelings, but merely to attempt to describe their “physiological clues”, he argued that it was impossible, for the time being, «to do anything but describe the representative content most immediately associated to the feeling» (Freud, 1929, p. 558). The latest findings of scientific research have now enabled Freud’s interest in neurology, in its original sense, to be satisfied. Furthermore, following the path indicated by Freud in his investigations of human affairs, we will make reference to the representations of human feelings present in great literature.