Freud: Freud And The Structural Model Of The Phyche

The id is the unconscious part of our mind that "contains our secret desires, darkest wishes, (and) intense fears" ("Psychoanalytic Criticism" 2). The id is entirely irrational and serves only to fulfill urges and wishes that the person most desires. The superego is also unconscious and is driven by the morality principal. It "represents the demands of morality and of society" (Mullahay 39). The superego urges us to do what will be accepted by our peers and by society. It can be compared to our conscious in the sense that it drives us to do what is right so that we won’t feel guilt or remorse. The third part to the trio is the ego, which is based solely on logic and rationality, and is part of the conscious mind. The ego "represents reason and sanity" and makes sensible and logical decisions even though these decisions may not fulfill all of our desires (Mullahay 36). "The ego (can be called) the battleground for forces of the superego and id" in that it "regulates (the) id and comes to terms with (the) superego" ("Psychoanalytic Criticism" 2).

The unconscious contains the instincts, those driving force for all human behavior. In Freud’s later writing he revised the conscious- unconscious distinction and came up with the id, ego and superego. The id is the unconscious, the least accessible part of the personality. The id includes the sex and aggressive instincts. Freud wrote, “We call it…a cauldron full of seething excitations. [The id] knows no judgments of value, no good and evil, no morality” (Freud, 1933, p 74). The id seeks immediate satisfaction without regard for the circumstances of reality. The id operates under the pleasure-seeking principal. For example, a newborn’s mind consists only of the id, which is responsible for the satisfaction of physical desires. The id, represents a human being’s most primitive desires, and a person ruled only by the id would do everything strictly for his or her own pleasure, breaking societal norms in the process and risking punishment. (SparkNotes, 2007)

Throughout the years the representation of women in advertising has evolved. In the 1940’s and 1950’s adverts mainly focused on portraying females as the helper, mother, wife, social being, and sex object. There was an assumption that a woman’s main desire was to make her husband happy; that while she was the buyer, he was really the main consumer, as the wife cooked, cleaned and looked after the children, which ultimately benefitted him. Even though these ads were targeting female consumers, they were often-and still are- created using the ‘male gaze’ theory. British film theorist Laura Mulvey states that the majority of Western visual culture follows the male gaze, where the gaze is not referring to a specific ‘look’ in the image, but rather to the viewer who is assumed to be a male (Mulvey, 1999). Mulvey says that even women look with a

theory of the Superego, the Ego and the Id. The Id is the centre of

Sexist ads show that society is dominated by the same masculine values that have controlled the image of women in the media for years. Sexist advertisement reinforces gender stereotypes and roles, or uses sex appeal to sell products, which degrades the overall public perception of women. The idea that sexism is such a rampant problem comes from the stereotypes that are so deeply embedded into today’s society that they almost seem to be socially acceptable, although they are nowhere near politically correct. Images that objectify women seem to be almost a staple in media and advertising: attractive women are plastered all over ads. The images perpetuate an image of the modern woman, a gender stereotype that is reinforced time and time again by the media. These images are accepted as “okay” in advertising, to depict a particular product as sexy or attractive. And if the product is sexy, so shall be the consumer. In the 1970s, groups of women initially took issue with the objectification of women in advertisements and with the limited roles in which these ads showed women. If they weren’t pin-ups, they were delicate

The ego must make a balance between the id and the superego; trying to satisfy our needs whilst not offending the superego. The ego sometimes uses defence mechanisms to remove problems. Some examples are:

The superego is the morality principle where a person feels responsible towards society. It also blocks out aggression and can cause guilt. Greg operated in his superego when he returned home, “He thought ahead of what his father would say and wondered if he should tell him about Lemon Brown. He thought about it until he reached his stoop, and decided against it,” (Myers 8). He didn’t want to tell his father about Lemon Brown because he didn’t want to get in even more trouble or another lecture, “Greg pushed the button over the bell marked Ridley, thought of the lecture he knew his father would give him, and smiled,”

The superego is a projection of the ego. It is the moral censoring agency; the part that makes moral judgments and the repository of conscience and pride. It brings reason, order and social acceptability to the otherwise uncontrolled and potentially harmful realm of biological impulses (Guerin 128-31).

However, According to Freud, the super-ego exists as a way to level out the ego, and, in a way, keep it in check. Therefore, the super-ego is responsible for an individual’s conscience, or, their ability to feel guilt. Freud continues his explanation of these concepts by asserting the idea that the super-ego calls our attention to our own failures and misconducts, and attempts to assist us in learning from them in order to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. Furthermore, the conscience is the form in which the super-ego controls our actions and thoughts, and creates guilt within us. Therefore, the ego is the decision-making, acting part of an individual, while the super-ego acts as the ego’s voice of authority and control (Freud).

Everyday we expose ourselves to thousands of advertisements in a wide variety of environments where ever we go; yet, we fail to realize the influence of the implications being sold to us on these advertisements, particularly about women. Advertisements don’t just sell products; they sell this notion that women are less of humans and more of objects, particularly in the sexual sense. It is important to understand that the advertising worlds’ constant sexual objectification of women has led to a change in sexual pathology in our society, by creating a culture that strives to be the unobtainable image of beauty we see on the cover of magazines. Even more specifically it is important to study the multiple influences that advertisements have

The three different levels of consciousness that discussed in his study were the conscious, preconscious, and the unconscious state. Conscious is a thought that is currently in the awareness. Preconscious is a thought that is also from part of the memory process, which is currently not at awareness. Unconscious is a thought that cannot be voluntarily brought into the awareness. Freud explained that during the id stage, it is completely unconscious, thus only to be present at birth where it acts accordingly by the pleasure principle. A pleasure principle means of seeking an immediate pleasure, despite of understanding the formal reason, logic, safety, and morality to avoid the pain, and also in satisfying of a person needs. Hock (2009) pointed out that id stage consists of “basic human biological urges and instincts such as hunger, thirst, and sexual impulses” (p. 236).

Superego: This is that part of our psyche that determines how we think we should react in a given situation. This is the development of morals, what is right and what is wrong. It is a further development of control over the id response.

The area consists of all the internalized norms, values, and feelings that are taught in the socialization process. The superego brings the social pressures of reality to push upon the id. The superego exhibits society’s restraint on the id. When the id is saying, "I want that," the superego is saying, "Wait, slow down, think about this for a little bit. Is this right?" The superego acts as the mind’s conscience and responds to the social rules.

The Superego is representative of our conscience and is opposite of the id. “Superego” comes from Latin and really means “above the ego”. It is the greatest power of our mind. The superego is what most people would call the conscience or where a god would be. The Superego is a basis for how we view the world, social norms, and morals. Also, as the Superego portrays the conscience, it holds our sense of wrong and right. We have to follow the needs of the Superego or else we might feel some guilt or shame.

The super-ego can be thought of as the conscience. It employs the societal concepts of right and wrong, which are typically introduced by a person’s parents (Weiten 364).