Helpful Score: 14
Apologies in advance for the long review...sorry, I'm a big gender theory nerd.
"Self-Made Man" had an intriguing premise and a somewhat interesting execution, but ultimately fell a little flat for me.
The bizarro-contradictory conclusions Norah Vincent draws from this study show that she was completely the wrong person to do a study like this. Ideologically, Vincent follows the mold of Camille Paglia...lesbian, libertarian, and "feminist" only in that she doesn't spend a lot of time around men. After spending 18 months cross-dressed as a man for this book, infiltrating a men's bowling league, a monastery, a strip club, and other male-only domains, this is what she determines:
1) Gender roles are toxic and hurt men as well as women.
To which I say, "No kidding! Feminists have been saying this for at least the last 25 years or so...when was The Second Shift published, exactly?"
2) Feminists are to blame for the pain masculinity causes men, or at least, they're to blame for somehow ignoring the plight of men at the expense of the advancement of women.
Um...no? See above; feminists have been the ones fighting against societally-enforced gender roles, both masculine and feminine.
3) Despite the fact that it's "toxic", gender is so deeply felt that it simply must be inborn and unshakable. Her quote: "There is at bottom really no such thing as that mystical unifying creature we call a human being, but only male human beings and female human beings, as separate as sects.
Look, I'm sorry your experiment in cross-gendered living messed with your sense of self so much that you voluntarily checked into the psych ward afterward, but please do not extrapolate from your personal experience to everyone else on the planet. Also, how in the world does this fit with your other conclusions? Something can be strongly felt -- incredibly so -- without being inborn and immutable.
Despite Vincent's wacky assumptions and prose that fairly dripped with condescension for anyone not an upper-middle-class New Yorker, I enjoyed reading about the nuts and bolts of her experience. I just find myself hoping that other, less transphobic people decide to repeat the experiment and write about it.
"Self-Made Man" had an intriguing premise and a somewhat interesting execution, but ultimately fell a little flat for me.
The bizarro-contradictory conclusions Norah Vincent draws from this study show that she was completely the wrong person to do a study like this. Ideologically, Vincent follows the mold of Camille Paglia...lesbian, libertarian, and "feminist" only in that she doesn't spend a lot of time around men. After spending 18 months cross-dressed as a man for this book, infiltrating a men's bowling league, a monastery, a strip club, and other male-only domains, this is what she determines:
1) Gender roles are toxic and hurt men as well as women.
To which I say, "No kidding! Feminists have been saying this for at least the last 25 years or so...when was The Second Shift published, exactly?"
2) Feminists are to blame for the pain masculinity causes men, or at least, they're to blame for somehow ignoring the plight of men at the expense of the advancement of women.
Um...no? See above; feminists have been the ones fighting against societally-enforced gender roles, both masculine and feminine.
3) Despite the fact that it's "toxic", gender is so deeply felt that it simply must be inborn and unshakable. Her quote: "There is at bottom really no such thing as that mystical unifying creature we call a human being, but only male human beings and female human beings, as separate as sects.
Look, I'm sorry your experiment in cross-gendered living messed with your sense of self so much that you voluntarily checked into the psych ward afterward, but please do not extrapolate from your personal experience to everyone else on the planet. Also, how in the world does this fit with your other conclusions? Something can be strongly felt -- incredibly so -- without being inborn and immutable.
Despite Vincent's wacky assumptions and prose that fairly dripped with condescension for anyone not an upper-middle-class New Yorker, I enjoyed reading about the nuts and bolts of her experience. I just find myself hoping that other, less transphobic people decide to repeat the experiment and write about it.
H M. (anchovy) reviewed Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man on + 296 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 13
While I loved the concept of this book, I thought that Norah Vincent came across as incredibly naive in her presentation of her experiences as Ned. Maybe she lived a very sheltered life as an out lesbian in the 2000s, but it was as if she'd not read any sociology or feminist or gender studies books in the last 20 years, even though she quotes from some. She takes many of her specific experiences and overgeneralizes them to apply universally, and she doesn't come up with much that I didn't know about the other sex by my teen years (without going undercover). Yes, not all men are unmitigated jerks, and many men are not allowed by society to be intimate and emotional (except for anger), and some sex workers are unhappy, and some monks aren't well socially adjusted, and door-to-door salesmen are often sleazy, and dating between genders is just fraught with perils...
Given all that, she writes well, and she traveled through some interesting places. I also hope that many of the issues she thought might be universal and hardwired are actually products of societal conditioning, not genetics, and we can try to open up our range of possibilities and make the differences between us all less painful in the future.
Given all that, she writes well, and she traveled through some interesting places. I also hope that many of the issues she thought might be universal and hardwired are actually products of societal conditioning, not genetics, and we can try to open up our range of possibilities and make the differences between us all less painful in the future.
This was an amazing read. I'd never have the guts to try what this woman did. What an amazing peek at what men are like when (they think) we're not around. And the notes on the different way people treat others based on the gender they perceive is interesting also. As a female manager of a group of men, I found it a most enlightening read. .... and they really are thinking what I think they're thinking about me. and every other woman on the planet.
Allie B. (kcallieb) reviewed Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man on + 31 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I hated this book. I was intrigued by the premise and wanted the book to be more about how the world saw Norah/Ned instead of her observations of the repressed issues that the men she interacted with were dealing with.
JAMIE L. (jamielanier) reviewed Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
... I know this book has gotten rave reviews but... I just can't finish it. It's so boring to me. I really respect the author for enduring what she did but it was a snoozer for me.
Helpful Score: 2
Wow. That's what I felt during & after I read this book. As someone who is interested in relationships and how people interact with each other, Norah Vincent allowed me an insiders look into what it was like to be a woman who dresses and trys to act like a man in a man's world. It is also a look into how Norah reacts within herself as she 'plays' this part. I like that fact that this isn't a scientific book per se, but more of a real life experience. It truly is an amazing chapter of Ms. Vincent's life.
Helpful Score: 2
What an intriguing look into the minds of men! This book made me re-think my impressions of the men in my life and have more respect for their motivations.
Dina B. (nwmystery) reviewed Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man on + 29 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Great book. I thought the premise was going to be light but turns into a dark and revealing portrait. Very intersting.
Kendra W. (pipscweek) reviewed Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Loved this book! Norah Vincent's psychological thoughts and reflections from her experiences as Ned would be helpful for any person to try and understand how men act.
Suzanne C. (Suzanimals) reviewed Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man on + 24 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
As a woman, I learned a lot about men, and women as well. Great sociological study.
Great book!
Really intriguing book. Was an easy read and was greatly informative. Generally enjoyed the read.
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man on + 1474 more book reviews
Norah Vincent's journal of the 18 months she spent living as a man includes insights and surprises, but I found it ultimately depressing in what it says about the culture of masculinity.
Susan R. (Sue-in-AZ) -
All I can say is I couldn't have done it.
The author spends a year presenting herself as a man. She describes unique and sometimes scary situations that she encountered with this experiment - along with insights gathered.
At the end, the author had greater empathy for men (clearly this was not her expected outcome). And she had made some surprising friends along the way.
The author spends a year presenting herself as a man. She describes unique and sometimes scary situations that she encountered with this experiment - along with insights gathered.
At the end, the author had greater empathy for men (clearly this was not her expected outcome). And she had made some surprising friends along the way.
