Product Description

'Most men don't have a life' is the dramatic opening to Steve Biddulph's bestseller Manhood. Exploring two critical social issues: establishing a healthy masculinity and how men can release themselves from suffocating and outdated social moulds, Biddulph addresses the problems and possibilities confronting men in their daily life. Women have found the book to be a profoundly moving and revealing read; while men acquire recognition and a sense of hope that life can be different. Topics include:--Seven steps to manhood--You and your father - breaking down the defences--Sex and spirit - coming alive--Being a real father - turning your love into action--Real male friends - be proud of being male and much more-This edition has been revised and updated to meet the needs of younger men, who are struggling with these issues in the twenty-first century.'Steve Biddulph should be in the UK what he is in Australia, the household name in the business of raising boys and being a man' Dorothy Rowe, psychologist and writer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103673 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 293 pages

Review
"'Steve Biddulph should be in the UK what he is in Australia, the household name in the business of raising boys and being a man' Dorothy Rowe, psychologist and writer"

From the Publisher
A clear and practical road map for men wanting to enrich their lives, and for parents wanting the best future for their sons

About the Author
Steve Biddulph is one of the UK's best-known family therapists and parenting authors. His books, including Raising Boys, Stories of Manhood, The Secret of Happy Children and The Making of Love, are in two million homes worldwide.

Customer Reviews

An action plan for the future
The mens movement has received some bad press in the last few years. In this inspiring book, Steve Biddulph shows how vital and relevant the movement is to the future of all men, and to the future of the planet as a whole.

Biddulph lays out a clear path for men to follow that will lead them to greater understanding of themselves and their journey through life. In 'Seven Steps to Manhood', he offers a blueprint for improvement: Fixing it with your father, Meeting your partner on equal terms, Engaging actively with your kids, and so on. He then goes in to more detail on each idea, one chapter at a time.

The chapters are flushed out with real life stories, quotes from mens groups, myths and legends, humour and tragedy. He quickly establishes that he is not anti-feminist, rather that feminism on its own is not enough. You cannot liberate half of human beings. Most women, he argues, welcome a mens movement because women like the saner, happier and more involved men that it produces.

His main argument rests on the fact that boys in modern industrial society hardly see their dads. Boys are brought up at home by their mothers, or at kindergarten and primary school by women. Even well-meaning fathers often play only minor roles in the young man's life. As a result, boys grow up with few good role models and little strong male guidance. They base their image of men on Hollywood heroes and pop icons, with disastrous results. Boys need proper fathering and male mentoring, and this needs to continue as they move into life, work and fathering of their own.

If you're a man between the ages of 18 and 80, this book may well give you some perspective on the challenges you face in life, and some of the places to find help when life becomes difficult. And women will probably find it intersting, too.

Everyone should read this!
This book highlights the extent to which men have been conditioned to pretend and mask their emotions. Although slightly New Agey, I cannot recommend it enough to men AND women. I feel that I understand men 100% more and this can only be a good thing. They respond to a warm and caring approach and need to feel that crying is a perfectly natural and liberating experience for any human being. Another important message that came across is that today's boys are horrendously underfathered and need to spend time with good male role models in order to enjoy a fulfilling life and develop into healthy men.

Other topics include the treadmill of work (burn your tie!), relating to women and the need to make peace with your father.

Essential reading if you want to understand the male psyche and improve yourself.

Practical, understanding, liberating.
I came to this book via another of Steve Biddulph's books, RAISING BOYS, which is wonderfully insightful and directly helpful. MANHOOD is similarly practical in its advice and understanding of problems that men don't talk about. Written in a direct style - no obscurantist academedician or mystic New Age talk here - this book has opened my eyes to things I should have liked to have understood half a century ago when it would have helped me see the good in my own father and the difficulties he coped with. It's a bit late now for that but I hope it'll help me, and them, in sharing life experiences with my own three sons - and the women in their lives. To use that well-worn expression, I cannot recommend MANHOOD too highly.