Self-Made Man is a woman’s attempt to immerse herself in the world of men. To look like one, act like one and be treated like one in her everyday life. As Ned, she joins an all-male bowling team, spends time at a monastery, takes a competitive job and even takes part in a men’s support group. Throughout this, she attempts to make insightful comments about gender roles and expectations.

I appreciate her attempt, really. I think somewhere in there is an honest effort to understand her place in the world amongst all of these other people who are trying to understand theirs. However, it unfortunately falls pretty flat. I think what stood out to me most of all was the fact that I really think she already had ideas of where she would end this experiment. She claims throughout the book that she did not, however, despite her lengthy adventure she comes out at the end with it mostly tied up into a neat little package. Even moreso than that, she doesn’t seem to have gained much by it. To her, men are either grotesque and animalistic or damaged, hurt little boys. She makes excuses for the behavior that she deems inappropriate but there seems to be this undercurrent in her writing that women are more in control, women can cope better, women, despite their struggles in society, are most of all fuller human beings. I was a bit disgusted.

I think most of all she attempted to make men fit what she wanted men to be. She studied them as though they were savage animals at a zoo and tried to make sense of their behavior as though they were sub-human. Men act this way because their relationships with their fathers are strained, men speak like this to women because they are intimidated, etc, etc. Yes, of course the dominant culture for white men of European ancestry is emotionally suppressive, maybe even emotionally crippling, but she seems to completely disregard the fact that these people she studied were more than just a cause and effect. She developed what seemed like friendly relationships with many of them, but continued to see them as subjects rather than human beings.

I think if she had really put her heart into this she would have come out at the end not with the conclusion that men and women are separate species but more like identical members of the same species that have adapted in certain ways, much like birds adapted to the sky and some to the water. As a female-to-male transsexual that has truly experienced the culture shock of living in two different words as far as gender goes in a social outlook, I promise that men and women are not as different as they seem. There are fundamental differences, yes, at least fundamental enough to make it impossible for me to live as a woman but fleeting enough that my relationships with either are capable of being just as fulfilling. It is the individual and not the gender and the responsibility and understanding they have of themselves and for their actions. I’m tired of the excuses and weak attempts at understanding that come from both sides. We must as human beings be understanding and helpful when it comes to overcoming some of the restrictions that have been placed on both men and women, but ultimately we must teach each other to understand and overcome these boundaries ourselves. ( )

A journalist/lesbian becomes a man for a year to see what it's like to be a man, and what men are like when women aren't around (pretty scary sometimes). The chapters where men and women are most different were the most interesting, e.g. when she went to strip clubs (pretty horrifying and misogynistic) and dated women. At the end it got to her, and she became psychologically screwed up as a result (I actually read this book because I saw her latest book, about being in a mental hospital, in the library and decided I'd read about what screwed her up first). All in all, except for the few chapters that fell a bit flat, like the monastery and sales job chapters, this was a fascinating frightening tour through the male psyche. No wonder she cracked. ( )

Chose this for my bookgroup a while back. I was intrigued but worried how the group would react to it. It was interesting and everyone thought the same but the overall concensus was that the vulgarity of it detracted from a great story. It was an interesting exercise in the human condition but Norah Vincent took it down to a level it did not need to go. I thought it was a brave endeavour and was so interested in reading this book but I lost track of it because of all the foul language that just was not necessary. ( )

Norah Vincent lived for 1 1/2 years the life of a man. In a drag costume she joined an all male bowling club, went to work in a high pressure sales job, dated women and even participated in a men's self-help group.

In "Self-Made Man" she shares what she discovered about the other sex while working under cover. This book was an entertaining and quick read although the insights gained weren't as deep as one could have hoped for.

However, Vincent manges to disprove her own thesis that men have easier and better lives all around. In the end the female reader will at least gain some understanding and sympathy for the male life experience. ( )

A fascinating story, if one approaches it as more of a travelogue. I don't agree with her broad generalizations of "women" or "feminine" versus "men" and "masculine," but her comparison between her as female and her as male, both in her perceptions and how she was perceived, made for a very interesting read. In the end, I feel I learned more about the author's view of herself and how she vies the different genders than I did about "manhood" or its many permutations. ( )