Sexual Differences

Cixous and Irigaray both focus on reason why males are some how dominate in society. In Cixous writing she wrote "In philosophy woman are always on the side of passivity" and what these feminist critics are focusing on and their "project" being trying to figure out where male dominance comes into play in society, through philosophy beliefs and history. Cixous looks into studies from sociologists just as Singmund Freud, who tried to explain the sexual differences between males and females originates from childhood, and how little girls at a young age see males, and then see themselves as missing something on their bodies (a penis). Then then what is desired by the little girls and what they fantasize about is a penis. Which creates a "feminine desire for her father". That is one approach Cixous took by analyzing different ideas of these theorists and make sense out of them. Irigaray takes a different approach by using the "creation of space" to explain sexual differences in society. She uses the beliefs of god or gods being the creator of space and everything around us, and how god is seen as masculine. Her project is to use social beliefs in order to explain her "project" in figuring out where the idea of sexual difference originated from. Both Feminist Critics both focus on figuring out where sexual difference come from.