According to Freud, throughout the development of a child there are several stages (each dealing

Freud implies that in the young male, the Oedipus conflict stems from his natural love for his mother, a love which becomes sexual as his libidinal energy transfers from the anal region to his genitals. Unfortunately for the boy, his father stands in the way of this love. The boy therefore feels aggression and envy towards this rival, his father, and also feels fear that the father will strike back at him. As the boy has noticed that women, his mother in particular, have no penises, he is struck by a great fear that his father will remove his penis, too. The anxiety is aggravated by the threats and discipline he incurs when caught masturbating by his parents. This castration anxiety outstrips his desire for his mother, so he represses the desire. Moreover, although the boy sees that though he cannot posses his mother, because his father does, he can posses her vicariously by identifying with his father and becoming as much like him as possible: this identification indoctrinates the boy into his appropriate sexual role in life. A lasting trace of the Oedipal conflict is the superego, the voice of the father within the boy. By thus resolving his incestuous conundrum, the boy passes into the latency period, a period of libidinal dormancy.

The “middle school years” are the period in a child’s life when for the first time they no longer feel dependant on their parents. It is during this time that the original parental bonds formed throughout infancy are tested for their first time. Children no longer care for people of the other sex and often segregate themselves according to sex. Boys and girls see each other as having coodies and are not mature enough yet to realize their personality differences. In an attempt to make friends and find a family in their peers boys and girls do the best they can to fit into a group that makes them feel “comfortable” as themselves. Perhaps one of the most important factors during the period of latency is the lack of identity formation. Although children are now first beginning to feel very independent, they are still run for the most part by their families, and are therefore not able to form a sense of their own identity. For the most part they simply copy the actions of others, in an effort to look normal or cool. This is often a great source of guilt in children as they are not quite sure who they want to be yet, and often act in ways that they are ashamed of in an effort to fit in. Without a true identity children learn by mistakes during this period and through pleasure at the end of the period are able to realize the true person that they want to become.

The issue of sex role stereo-typing has been very important for many years throughout the entire world. Tests have been conducted throughout the course of time in an effort to uncover the true rea

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