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174th out of 1,263 books
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2,764 voters
Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey Into Manhood and Back Again
Following in the tradition of John Howard Griffin (Black Like Me) and Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed), Norah Vincent absorbed a cultural experience and reported back on what she observed incognito. For more than a year and a half she ventured into the world as Ned, with an ever-present five o'clock shadow, a crew cut, wire-rim glasses, and her own size 11 1/2 shoes-a...more
Hardcover, 290 pages
Published
January 19th 2006
by Viking Adult
(first published 2006)
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+ Interesting sociological adventure and engaging first-person account
- Tiresome gender stereotypes, use of deceptive techniques
In the tradition of John Howard Griffin's Black Like Me and Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Norah Vincent disguised herself as a man and, for a year and a half, attempted to learn how men behave in their own company. While this is an intersting pursuit, and Vincent is not a bad writer, I was nonetheless disappointed by the fundamen...more
- Tiresome gender stereotypes, use of deceptive techniques
In the tradition of John Howard Griffin's Black Like Me and Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Norah Vincent disguised herself as a man and, for a year and a half, attempted to learn how men behave in their own company. While this is an intersting pursuit, and Vincent is not a bad writer, I was nonetheless disappointed by the fundamen...more
A transphobic tirade masquerading as feminist adventure story? That was my first thought of what to say about this book (to highlight its most serious problems), but of course there's more to it than just that.
Vincent (a "conservative lesbian" according to answers.com) is a skilled narrator with a seductively casual style which she, unfortunately, uses to thread her tale with dubious normative and essentialistic asides.
Reading her "sympathetic" descriptions of male experience was, at times, i...more
Vincent (a "conservative lesbian" according to answers.com) is a skilled narrator with a seductively casual style which she, unfortunately, uses to thread her tale with dubious normative and essentialistic asides.
Reading her "sympathetic" descriptions of male experience was, at times, i...more
In Nickle and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich makes it very clear early in the book that she is not claiming that she is speaking for the working class. She states that she cannot entirely know what their lives are like, and what she is presenting is her own experience, and stories she was told by others. But just because she works the low-paying jobs, that does not give her a monopoly on what life is like for those who do the same.
This specificity benefits that book greatly, as it is almost always f...more
This specificity benefits that book greatly, as it is almost always f...more
Jan 14, 2013
Leajk
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
misandrists?
Shelves:
gender
Perhaps my minds was set against this book from the moment I got it. It wasn't what I had asked for. It was given to me by my brother as a Christmas present. Maybe he though I needed something more modern and pro-male than some of the books I had on my Christmas wish-list (which included The Worth of Women: Wherein Is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men (view spoiler)...more
This book has a great premise -- a woman attempting to live as a man, to gain access to the "secret lives" of men. This could have been a very successful magazine article. As a full-length book, though, it's awash in pseudo-insights that range from maudlin to downright offensive. The author comes up with nothing anybody with half a brain didn't already know: "masculinity" is just as much of a potentially crippling construct as "femininity" is. Big surprise.
The author seems to try hard to empathi...more
The author seems to try hard to empathi...more
Jul 16, 2007
sylas
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
No one.
Shelves:
started-never-finished
This book infuriated me. I would like to give it negative 3 stars. Unfortunately that's not possible.
Vincent makes broad generalizations about various groups of people based on their gender, race and class. I found her perspective to be incredibly elitist and classist; her analysis of her experience "living as a man" is deeply rooted in her unexamined privilege as a middle-class, non-disabled white woman.
My fury kept me from completing this book. The final straw came when she disgustedly referre...more
Vincent makes broad generalizations about various groups of people based on their gender, race and class. I found her perspective to be incredibly elitist and classist; her analysis of her experience "living as a man" is deeply rooted in her unexamined privilege as a middle-class, non-disabled white woman.
My fury kept me from completing this book. The final straw came when she disgustedly referre...more
Aug 17, 2007
Frightful_elk
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
women + those intrested in gender studies
This is an intresting sociological study of manhood from a woman's point of view. It's certainly a provocotive book, which offers a lot of food for thought, although Norah's own journey is not paticularly in depth or comphrehensive.
She struggles a lot with the guilt of decieving people into thinking she is a man, and so her relationships as a man are only ever superficial. As soon as she begins to develop a closeness with anyone she reveals that she is female. While it is very easy to relate to...more
She struggles a lot with the guilt of decieving people into thinking she is a man, and so her relationships as a man are only ever superficial. As soon as she begins to develop a closeness with anyone she reveals that she is female. While it is very easy to relate to...more
Apr 05, 2007
laura
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
sociologists, gender studies types
Shelves:
political-historical-journalism
I read this book hoping for a lot of sociological insight - but the author is not a sociologist, nor is she necessarily a feminist. I see that I'm not the first reviewer on goodreads to note that she seems to oversympathize with men, and almost acts as their apologist in certain chapters. Still, there are very subtle differences she describes in detail about living life as a man instead of a woman that were so fascinating to me that reading the book was totally worth it. If, as a woman, you'd li...more
While it's clear that Vincent likely carries lifetime subscriptions to Bust and Ms. and carries a certain generational badge in her feminism, I find the book useful for its willingness to cross what I've always considered the last frontier of feminism - getting past the us v. them and moving, however slowly, towards a more mutually understandable social world. Her insights into the infinitesimally small ways in which we cue gender in social settings are fascinating reading, and the gradual openi...more
what I have to say about this book is you should read it. and you should be very very angry. Vincent does a disservice to everyone by ignoring the complexities of our world. Her treatment of women and her anexation of trans-narratives prove her shortsitedness by proving once again that there is only one narrative that of the white middle class male. Generally she seems to be pandering to a straight white audience who want to believe that everything they ever thought about gender/sex was true.
Imagine you're able to pass as the oppossite sex. At work, in a club, when you're roaming the streets. That would be intriguing, exciting, yet odd and scary at the same time. What would you do? What would you like to find out? Where would you start?
Norah Vincent made it happen, with the idea of studying men among their own, their interaction with females and both sexes' place in society. What I personally expected: sociological insights, remarkable - and worrisome - stories, eye openers and a g...more
Norah Vincent made it happen, with the idea of studying men among their own, their interaction with females and both sexes' place in society. What I personally expected: sociological insights, remarkable - and worrisome - stories, eye openers and a g...more
I love this book!! I have read it over twice now, and I know I will re-read it often. The situation is that the author begins a quest to learn more about what it is like to be a person of the opposite sex. Don't we all wonder about this at least occasionally? Don't men and women often shake their heads in total bewilderment of the curious, unfathomable - even bizarre and seemingly irrational - behaviors, thoughts and feelings of whatever sex you are not? Wouldn't you like to understand or at lea...more
Aug 21, 2007
Kstn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those who just want to explore gendered experiences
some forms of socialization into masculinity explored through her donning of differnt male identities, such as the power-pumping salesman, the average-joe bowling night, the monk, etc. she even dates. the most interesting part for me were the surprising discoveries...how people reacted to her as him, how they reacted to her when they discovered she wasn't a him, how she reacted to being perceived as him.
however, she strikes me as transphobic with many of her conclusions, and is pretty oblivious...more
however, she strikes me as transphobic with many of her conclusions, and is pretty oblivious...more
This book explores men's emotions, and the possibility and necessity of a "men's movement" so that men can be free to be who they want to be and not just what they are expected to be. "...it wasn't being found out as a woman that I was really worried about. It was being found out as less than a real man, and I suspect that this is something a lot of men endure their whole lives..." Really interesting insight, especially the stay at the monastery and dating. The book has slow points but I would r...more
Nov 26, 2007
Brandon O'Neill
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
adults interested in gender relationships
Very interesting book. A New York liberal, lesbian, feminist takes on the role of a man to see what men are all about. As Ned, she joins a bowling team, works selling merchandise in a high pressure sales job, visits strip clubs, goes on dates, stays at a monestary for a while, and goes to meetings of a mens movement. Her insights into gender are interesting, and not something that I think too much about, to be honest. She thought that being a white male would open up all kinds of doors she felt...more
In her account of a year and a half disguised as a man, NV squashes the perception that men have it easy.
Emily
Emily
Reading other people's reviews on Goodreads I pretty much agree with what most other people have to say, at least the moderates among them.
However, I will say this: it seems that the people that disliked the book and wrote reviews about it didn't throughly read the book. In particular, they did not read the end of the first chapter where Norah has her disclaimer: "I conducted and recorded the results of an experiment is not to say that this book pretends to be a scientific or objective study. N...more
However, I will say this: it seems that the people that disliked the book and wrote reviews about it didn't throughly read the book. In particular, they did not read the end of the first chapter where Norah has her disclaimer: "I conducted and recorded the results of an experiment is not to say that this book pretends to be a scientific or objective study. N...more
Half ethnography, half an examination of the male psyche, I found myself going back and forth between pouring over Vincent's findings and being disturbed by her investigative methods. On one hand, she paints a vivid picture of men that is in many ways contrary to the common societal notions of manhood (i.e. that they are insecure, exhausted by expectations, and deeply connected to their fathers). On the other hand, however, she did deceive many people in the course of the investigation, and at t...more
A "friend" gave me this book for my birthday last year, claiming it would teach me something about men. At the time, I was deeply offended, but now I find his present to be both useful and ironic.
I read this out of curiosity and found it quite problematic. The overall premise of the book is fascinating: a woman lives as a man for an entire year, observing and participating in "male" activities. At first glance, this seems a brilliant piece of gender scholarship. Unfortunately, Nora Vincent only...more
I read this out of curiosity and found it quite problematic. The overall premise of the book is fascinating: a woman lives as a man for an entire year, observing and participating in "male" activities. At first glance, this seems a brilliant piece of gender scholarship. Unfortunately, Nora Vincent only...more
Norah Vincent does a rare thing in undercover journalism--she walks the path between the painful dryness of the anthropologist and the patronizing self-congratulations of, say, Barbara Ehrenreich. Self-Made Man is troubling, fascinating, and ultimately self-contradictory.
I found it problematic that she focused only on extreme male situations--the sections I actually found most interesting was when she touched on passing in and out of costume, out of the charged situations she set up for herself...more
I found it problematic that she focused only on extreme male situations--the sections I actually found most interesting was when she touched on passing in and out of costume, out of the charged situations she set up for herself...more
my roommate (lesbian) said reading this book was like reading a book about penguins - fascinating, but completely useless for everyday life. my reaction was a bit stronger. i disagree with almost everything she said in the book, found her to be extremely close-minded about gender and sexuality (for a lesbian no less), and very condemning of women and defending of men in every situation she was in. i'm not sure exactly why she was so harsh on women, considering she is one and dates them, nor why...more
This book was eye-opening in ways I could never have imagined. I picked it up because I thought it would be interesting but I had no idea it would shake my very foundations as a feminist and make me reconsider all these ideas I'd had about the patriarchy and male privilege. It's really given me a lot to think about and I am grateful to this book for being so very thought-provoking. Most of this book's detractors think that its author spent too much time among atypical gatherings of men (a monast...more
Fascinating insight into the world of men as viewed by a woman. Her conclusions are colored by her specific experiences, of course. I took exception to the chapter on sex. I don't think Ms. Vincent's experiences at bottom-of-the-barrel strip clubs can lead to much that reflects on the type of person who wouldn't go to one.
Mediocre, at best. Interesting idea, but unenlightening writing.
The story, as I read it:
"I thought it would be interesting and informative to live as a man for a year.
I spent a year pretending to be a man in public, and frequently disclosed the "real me" to those with whom I grew close.
I cracked up."
Mix in a dash of trite truism on what it is to be male, and some great cover art, blurbing, and industry backing, and you've got real seller.
The verdict - Do something more enlightening with your...more
The story, as I read it:
"I thought it would be interesting and informative to live as a man for a year.
I spent a year pretending to be a man in public, and frequently disclosed the "real me" to those with whom I grew close.
I cracked up."
Mix in a dash of trite truism on what it is to be male, and some great cover art, blurbing, and industry backing, and you've got real seller.
The verdict - Do something more enlightening with your...more
I started this book and that is about where I ended. I disagreed with the author almost instantly. There are so many stereotypes in the first chapter to make any reader question her approach to this book. I think that she is overly defensive of the male characters that she documents. She is a woman, even though she might not feel that she "belongs" as one, that degrades women and womanhood. This book goes against everything that I believe and is not even close to the lives and characters of the...more
WOW! What an insightful book about being a man. This book takes you on a journey of how a woman prepares to look, act and fool society on being a "man". Her insight on what men do when they interact with one another is eye opening. Some of the stories are dull while others are quite insightful. All I know is, I am glad to be a woman in a man's world.
Autobiography of a lesbian who goes undercover as a man for 1 1/2 years and discovers that being a man is actually harder than she thought. It was a really great book. Norah explains her experiences & observations undercover. From her stay at a monastery with monks to what's its like trying to date. At parts it was funny, parts sad, & parts hopeful. It was well written & liked how she tried to approach it with an open mind. Show's you the prespective of what's like on the other side...more
In an undeniably fascinating piece of investigative journalism, Vincent poses as a man (with male clothes, sports bra and fake stubble, but no surgery) and details her experiences of work, socializing and self when perceived as the opposite gender.
It’s an interesting read and Vincent makes many insightful observations about gender and society. Some of those observations are, admittedly, tough to read. This slightly gritty quality to the book is compounded by Vincent’s obviously hard emotional jo...more
It’s an interesting read and Vincent makes many insightful observations about gender and society. Some of those observations are, admittedly, tough to read. This slightly gritty quality to the book is compounded by Vincent’s obviously hard emotional jo...more
It's difficult to explain why I liked this book so much, and I will agree wholeheartedly with anyone who says they hate it.
First of all, Vincent's tone may be off-putting. I had a difficult time immersing myself in the first chapter, and there were several spots in the later chapters that held me at a distance. She uses slang words for sexual parts in her everyday writing voice, which wouldn't be a difficulty if the rest of the book weren't so philosophically complicated and tonally academic. T...more
First of all, Vincent's tone may be off-putting. I had a difficult time immersing myself in the first chapter, and there were several spots in the later chapters that held me at a distance. She uses slang words for sexual parts in her everyday writing voice, which wouldn't be a difficulty if the rest of the book weren't so philosophically complicated and tonally academic. T...more
Unlike many of the people who, to my great surprise, give this book low ratings, I had no feelings of disgust or outrage toward it at all. This may be because I expected it to be neither a scientific work nor some sort of feminist Word Of God. I simply found the topic interesting, the quality of her work acceptable on all counts, and some of her experiences quite surprising (yet resonant).
The most valuable insights I gained from this book are what she herself expressed as the two biggest surpri...more
The most valuable insights I gained from this book are what she herself expressed as the two biggest surpri...more
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Norah Vincent is an American writer.
Vincent was a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies from its 2001 inception to 2003[citation needed]. She has also had columns at Salon.com, The Advocate, the Los Angeles Times, and the Village Voice.
More about Norah Vincent...
Vincent was a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies from its 2001 inception to 2003[citation needed]. She has also had columns at Salon.com, The Advocate, the Los Angeles Times, and the Village Voice.
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“Women and men communicate differently, often on entirely different planes. But just as men have failed us, we have failed them. It has been one of our great collective female shortcomings to presume that whatever we do not perceive simply isn't there, or that whatever is not communicated in our language is not intelligible speech.”
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Mar 25, 2010 09:04am