thumb|alt=A painting depicting Uranus castrating Cronus while he eats an infant. Aphrodite can be seen in the background looking at herself in a mirror while standing in a river.|Castration of Uranus by Cronus,
Castration anxiety is an overwhelming fear of damage to, or loss of, the penis—a derivative of Sigmund Freud's theory of the castration complex, one of his earliest psychoanalytic theories.
Literal
Castration anxiety refers to a child's fear of having their genitalia disfigured or removed as punishment for Oedipal desire.
Metaphorical
Castration anxiety can also refer to being castrated symbolically. In the metaphorical sense, castration anxiety refers to the idea of feeling or being insignificant; there is a need to keep one's self from being dominated; whether it be socially or in a relationship.