Thus, according to Ms Brickman, the construct of primitivity is continually prone to slippage and conflation with the racially inflected meanings that position those not embodying the ideal of the Western masculine subject as prior to and inferior.
However, in her deconstruction of Freud's theories of the unconscious Ms Brickman uncovers an emancipatory potential in Freud's thinking.
Ms Brickman demonstrates how Freud situates dependency and femininity as indicative of an inferior past.
For Ms Brickman many later theoretical developments in psychoanalysis do provide antidotes to these problematics.
Furthermore, Ms. Brickman offers another key contribution by situating Freud's theoretical developments within the pervasive culture of anti-Semitism that he experienced throughout his life.