Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud’s work had a massive cultural impact, he explained the way people thought before the brain could be examined through science. Freud said that we are all motivated by sex and that sex is always on the mind. He also said that sexual dysfunction lead to fear and depression. This was revolutionary because despite the fact that everyone had sex, no one ever wrote about it. Freud also spoke about a constant conflict of the ego vs id and suppression of the id in civilisation causes unhappiness. This basically means that you can't do what you want to do because it is not deemed acceptable in society and this turn makes you unhappy. He also said that society damages the individual by constraining them and repressing their thoughts. From this, Freud ascertained that people are not what they seem to be, because you never know what they are thinking. What people are doing and what they are thinking can often be two very different things.

Freud also based some of his work 'on the analysis dreams' and said that dreams are a way of understanding personality and that they are the 'royal highway to the subcultures'. Furthermore, Freud was a sexist and believed that men were superior to women. He also wrote about sexual politics and gender differences, stating that all women were hysterical because they had 'penis envy'.

As far as Freudian psychoanalysis still being relevant in today's society a prime example would be advertising. Advertising is all about influencing people to buy things. A good way to advertise something is by use of sex, an idea that was first presented by Freud.