Publisher's Synopsis
Why is it a challenge for men to get close to others? Why don't men express emotions (except for big ones like anger and frustration)? Why can't men tolerate vulnerability? Why do men lie, not listen, not do housework, and generally lack an interest in parenting? Why are men so concerned about the size of their penis and its symbolic substitutes - big powerful cars, big houses, big money, and big muscles? Why are risk taking, drinking, drugs, gambling, and infidelity predominantly the preserve of men? Why is the vast majority of domestic abuse and violence perpetrated by men? Why does most perversion come from the male? Why is pornography mostly produced by men, for men? Why is most criminal behavior perpetrated by men? This book examines what it means to be a man, what part masculinity plays in men's identity, and what it's like to have to spend so much time and energy in managing that identity? Author Adam Jukes has spent most of his professional life working with troubled and disturbed men. In 1984, he opened one of the world's first treatment centers to address men's abusive and violent behavior towards women, from verbal and emotional abuse through to stalking and murder. In the following decades, his work developed into a clinical examination of masculinity, and Jukes now shares his insights and conclusions with the reader. His conclusions about what constructs masculinity and how it develops may be unpalatable to some, but it is also thought provoking and intriguing to anyone who has an interest in these issues, whether professional or personal, male or female, wife or lover, sister or brother, husband or father.
