Critical analysis of Engels' work "The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man" as applied to Freudian dialect

 

When examining the application of anthropology to the physiognomy of society and the social and demographic dimension which has shaped it, a lot of this can be linked back to  Hegelian dialect, which has been further reviewed and built upon through understanding Engels’ perspective on the matter. This can be outlined in his 1876 manuscript, The Role of Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man. This manuscript, which consists of only an unfinished introduction and which was never published within Engels’ lifetime, provides an insight into the ways in which the foundations of a society ruled by a variety of constructs and social norms based off of physical and socially constructed characteristics of individuals based off of age, gender, and sexuality. While a lot of what is presented in this work would seem like a rather crude and empirical observation based off of a specific time period, it can prove to be useful in providing a possible (albeit overly simplistic and heavily based off of highly outdated socially constructed ideals), it proves to provide an insightful and interesting perspective on the nature of these ideals, and how they could potentially be something of crude human nature which has not undergone radicalisation or exposure to alternative means in which societies can operate, as is effectively achieved through understanding the evolution of the humanoid species by. This would perhaps also present striking similarities between Freudian dialect to also be somewhat evident with regard to the naturalistic ideas about sexuality and sexual activity which are observed here.

Physical geography and the topographical characteristics of the environment in which primates were born into were believed by Engels to be directly related to their anatomical development and had clearly influenced their evolution into humans. The most notable stages to this development and the key means by which the more advanced Homo Sapiens species could be effectively distinguished from primates and other species would be through their manual dexterity and ability to develop and use tools. This extended to their ability to engage in sexual activity and for differences in their physical form in relation to their abilities to carry out specific functions. As a result, this marked the beginning of ideas on traditional gender roles to be established, so functioning as the point at which the established conduct of behaving associated with these were born, there laying the foundations of today’s chauvinistic and machist society in which sexual repression remains evident. By this logic, gender and biological sex are seen as interrelated and stemming from the same scientific rationale.

This attitude, however, appears to be very much disproven by many more feminist and liberal commentary by which gender is not viewed as real or related to gender sex; it’s merely a perceived social construct derived from physical and observable characteristics that people have been institutionalised to associate with either of the two biological sexes. As a result, many would wish to abolish the idea of gender, as well as viewing Engels’ ideas to be somewhat sexist, homophobic and transphobic in today’s society. Links between the ideas discussed with Freudian theory of penis envy and the Oedipus Complex can be established in that the common consensus that women would begin to, in their primary  stage of psychophallic development, develop a desire for the male reproductive system (even goingp so far as to be sexually attracted to their male parent) appreciating the power it has. This would thus prove to act as “the physical reproduction of the patriarchy”, and substantiate his controversial and heavily sexist claims that women functioned living lives dominated by their sexual reproductive functions.