In 1973, the psychoanalyst
D. W. Winnicott spoke of "the tremendous pleasure that belongs to the doing of a motion just exactly when the impulse comes...another little orgy that enriches the life of the infant". In
Sigmund Freud's theory of
psychosexual development, the anus becomes the primary erogenous zone between the ages of 18 months and three years. The main social context for this experience is the process of
toilet training, where anal pleasure becomes associated with the control of bowel movements. In his 1908 article
Character and Anal Erotism, Freud argued that, through
reaction formations and
sublimation, anal eroticism could turn in later life into character traits such as obstinacy, orderliness and meanness. The psychoanalyst
Sándor Ferenczi extended Freud's findings to cover the sublimation of anal eroticism into aesthetic experiences such as painting and sculpture, as well as into an interest in money. In 1946, the psychoanalyst
Otto Fenichel linked anal eroticism to feelings of
disgust, to
masochism, and to
pornography. The psychoanalyst
Julia Kristeva would subsequently explore anal eroticism in connection with her concept of
abjection. ==See also==