The imaginary and symbolic value of the penis. The phallus is not the same as the penis; it is a representation, not a part of the male anatomy. In psychoanalysis, particularly anaclisis psychoanalysis (indeed it is not a distinction Freud, Sigmund himself ever makes), it is at its most basic the representation of the male reproductive organ as it appears in the unconscious of both the child and the adult. The child passes successfully through the field phase to the degree that it recognizes that the phallus is a symbol and can therefore never be possessed. The phallus is in this sense synonymous with castration and it affects boys and girls equally. As such, it is also the ultimate form of the signified (see sign), the point where the chain of signification comes to an end.