Scopophilia

Scopophilia is mostly related to Jacques Lacan's notion of the gaze. However, Sigmund Freud first introduced the concept in 1905 in his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. Scopophilia refers to the pleasure of looking as well as the pleasure of being looked at. It therefore has both voyeuristic and exhibitionistic, as well as narcissistic, overtones. Freud believed the child's looking is motivated by an inquisitive and curious desire to look at forbidden body parts and functions that foreshadow fantasies concerning phallic (masculine) desire, ...