Fixation At Genital Stage

The genital stage is the fifth stage of psychosexual development that begins with the onset of puberty and continues to adulthood - 13 years to death. At this time, individuals start to become sexually mature and begin to explore their sexual feelings and desires more maturely and responsibly.

According to Freud, this is when an individual begins to have a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. And, if the stage is successful, this is when folks develop loving and search for life-long relationships with someone of the opposite sex.

In classical psychoanalytic theory, the final stage of psychosexual development commenced in puberty when the Oedipus complex has been fully resolved and erotic interest and activity are focused on bodily contact with a sexual partner.

1. The Genital Stage - Freud believed that with the start of puberty comes a reawakened, active libido and sexual attraction. Freud theorized that as opposed to the phallic stage, which was focused on self-pleasure, the pleasure during the genital stage is focused on heterosexual pleasure.

According to Freud, the genital stage reappears along with the Oedipus complex. The genital stage coincides with the phallic stage, in that in both stages their main concern is the genitalia; however, in the former, it is an unconscious process while in the genital stage, it is now conscious.

A. Genital Stage task -  The genital stage commences when all the libidinal urges and aggressive drives made a grand comeback. If you remember in the phallic stage, (the Oedipal and Elektra complex) the challenge for the child is centered on their resolution. On the other hand, the source of sexual pleasure in the genital stage has broadened and widened and has stepped outside of the family triangle (mother and father). The individual has now expanded his/her horizon and saw sexual and love interests outside of their home.

At age 3-6, if the child unknowingly grows fondness and becomes attracted to the same-sex parent ... then homosexual relationships are highly probable. However, the slant and the direction of this viewpoint and how we understood the phallic stage, become contradictory and incompatible with what we primarily believed the phallic stage entails.

D. Carry-over behaviors in the Genital stage - This stage starts when the libido reemerges. It is likened to a zombie who has newly risen from the grave. The onset of puberty causes the libido to become active once again. During the final stage of psychosexual development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This stage begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life.

Fixation at the genital stage (isn't it obvious?) As you might guess from the name, this stage involves fixation on the penis. Freud proposed that for young boys, this meant obsession with their own penis. For young girls, this meant fixation on the fact that they don't have a penis, an experience he called “penis envy.”

Is masturbation a fixation? It should ... since the man or the woman's focus is centered on the penis ... then manipulating their genitals made it so. You were stuck on this activity ... and making it a habit like doing it every day is more like an addiction.  There are people I know who could not sleep until they did it. They viewed it as a pleasure-seeking and anxiety-reducing activity. Continued use of it - is like taking a sleep aid to settle you down.

Masturbation fixation is a disorder that occurs when masturbation becomes his way of life ... it becomes a permanent fixture of his sexual repertoire, it becomes an outlet and a refuge when things go wrong ... and he chooses masturbation  ...  even though normal sexual partners are available. 

Experts believed that excessive masturbation can lead to social isolation,  staying home for lengthy periods of time, having no communication with family, acquaintances or friends, and/or willfully avoiding any contact with other humans when those opportunities do arise.

Masturbation is also an egocentric sense of satisfaction, where sex is supposed to be a give-and-take activity ... the person is more satisfied doing it himself than sharing it with anybody. These are also red flags ... because they could mean failure and disappointment with real-life partners. 

Masturbation can also lead to dependence on various sex toys and other masturbatory equipment in order to achieve orgasm.