Taking Care of Men

Why have images of the fabled sensitive, post-feminist 'new man' proliferated in the media?

This book sets out to determine how much of the hype about the sensitive, post-feminist 'new man' is based on fact, and why such images have proliferated in the media. Drawing on feminist debate, empirical data and statistical analysis, McMahon shows that the myth is often greater than the man.The idea of the sensitive, post-feminist 'new man' has received great attention. This book sets out to determine how much of the hype is based on fact, and why such images have proliferated in the media. McMahon focuses on the pivotal issue of men's relationship to the vital daily work of caring for people - both physically and emotionally - revealing much confusion about the extent and the interpretation of change. Using statistical data, as well as interview transcripts and media analysis, McMahon draws insightful distinctions between pleasure and performance, assistance and responsibility, gendered personality and gendered jobs, and - underlying all - between consumption and production. Incorporating social theory, psychology and popular culture, this book argues that recent social conversation about men largely avoids the important political point that men's material interests provide a major motivation for resistance to pro-equity change.