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Reddit mentions of Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man

Sentiment score: 7
Reddit mentions: 13

We found 13 Reddit mentions of Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man. Here are the top ones.

Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man
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Release dateJanuary 2006

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Found 13 comments on Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man:

u/sensiblescorpion · 24 pointsr/The_Donald

If it's the kind of thing you are interested in, check out Self made man. A woman named Norah Vincent Dresses as a man to "expose male privilege" and she is genuinely surprised by what she finds, and her desire to fight more for the rights of men.

u/ashestowhat · 19 pointsr/asktransgender

Yes, there is a thing. Check out this book:

Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OT8GTE/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

In it she suffers severe depression as a result of her experiment.

u/DevilishRogue · 14 pointsr/PurplePillDebate

Not quite what you are asking for but I cannot recommend enough Norah Vincent's Self Made Man for those interested in finding out female experience of what it is like to be a man.

u/CuttingEdgeofFail · 14 pointsr/TwoXChromosomes

I'm remembering a book called Self-Made Man that covered a woman's experiences masquerading as a man to catch a more authentic view of masculine interactions. It might be interesting to you. I can give you some more of my thoughts on masculinity if you want, but they'll be rambly and somewhat scattered.

For the simplest explanation why he specifically says that white men are the most put upon people, though, I suggest doing some quick google research on white feminism. People are always going to be more aware of the issues that they themselves face, and consequently think that they're the weightiest issues of the time. So while there's a lot to untangle about masculinity and a lot more about what issues get air time vs. which ones don't, never underestimate the power of good old fashioned cognitive biases.

u/Baeocystin · 10 pointsr/OneY

The book is titled Self-Made Man, and it's worth a read.

u/activepooter · 4 pointsr/Documentaries

I read the book years ago and it's quite good.

u/Oncefa2 · 3 pointsr/LeftWingMaleAdvocates

>It is how they solve the paradox of arguing that women excerting power over men when it is very obvious that men hold the most places in high power...This text solves the paradox arguing that women excert power over society through men: corporations and parties cater to women, feminists being the biggest lobbies, etc.

I will say this: I don't know who has more power in society. It may very well be men. It could just be a small number of men at the top, who ultimately answer to their wives, who statistically are in charge of them. It could be women who on average cede powet to men and prefer men to be in charge (so long as it benefits them). Or it could be about equal, with men exerting power in some areas, and women exerting power in others.

Many men's advocates like to argue that if you're a "one percenter" you're better off being a man, and if you're part of the 99%, you're better off being a woman.

The point of my post isn't to directly compare men and women as it is to address this argument that you see from feminists. They like to say A) that men can't be discriminated against, and you can't be sexist against men, because men are dominant in society and B) that whatever male problems exist in society are caused by men, not by women, and not by feminists (I think there are areas where any of the above are true: women, and feminists in particular, are not innocent here).

So like my thesis says, I have pointed out areas where women do have power, substantial amounts of power, and I have demonstrated how this power has been used, often in ways that actively create some of the issues that men's advocates like to discuss.

In particular, the role of feminism in creating many of these issues is, I think, fairly strait forward, and I provided plenty of references, some of them from actual feminists, that proves this.

I'm not trying to point fingers, but it is necessary to point this out given the arguments that we're seeing from feminists nowadays (arguments that essentially amount to victim blaming). It's like men's rights advocates suddenly caught their attention, they realized some of our points were valid, and so they had to deflect it instead of addressing it honestly and directly.

>Besides, (transitioned) trans women and trans men have mostly confirmed that men hold control over women socially.

This isn't universally true, and it's not a good comparison. I support trans rights but I imagine a trans women who only has a year of experience being a woman may not fully appreciate the role of "soft power" and other forms of influence that women have. Their gender identity itself may even influence their views.

Besides, check out these two examples:

One trans experience here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/07/20/feature/crossing-the-divide-do-men-really-have-it-easier-these-transgender-guys-found-the-truth-was-more-complex/

And a feminist who dressed up like a man and lived like a man for 6 months: https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised-ebook/dp/B000OT8GTE/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=se%3Bf+made+man+norah+vincent&qid=1571846622&sr=8-1-fkmr0

What's interesting is the author was a bonafide man-hating feminist who thought women were oppressed and that men had things better, and her experiences as a man completely changed her views.

And in particular, both the feminist "cross dresser" and the trans woman agree that being a man is harder than being a woman.

>What I do find interesting about this control by proxy is why do men are so eager to please women in order to act as proxys for women

My theory is that it is in large part biological. Men naturally want to help women. And women naturally seem to be able to manipulate men. This has been shown in various studies (many of the same ones that I already posted) and is really just common sense to anyone who thinks about it.

u/saltyladytron · 3 pointsr/starterpacks

I'd be interested in a real social experiment like this though. A racial/ethnic version of Self Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man.

u/vaker · 3 pointsr/TheRedPill

NYT article and her book. Of course NYT finds her insufficiently feminist in the end.

u/following_my_heart · 3 pointsr/trans

I don't see a conflict between those statements. The fact is that for nearly everyone, gender identity is not a choice. I would put the few for whom it seems a choice in the category of unspecified gender.

Kind of the right handed, left handed, ambidextrous. If you are ambidextrous, you can choose if you want to use your left or your right hand. But you can't choose to be ambidextrous: You are, or you are not. The fact is, most people can't choose their gender identity. A very few people, without that internal drumbeat telling them what gender they are, can. But that ability is still an innate thing.

Can someone who isn't 'unspecified gender' choose to present as a different gender than their internal identity? Sure. At great personal risk. Experiments in that direction (See "Self-Made Man" and of course the whole shitshow that is 'reparative therapy') have produced the strong result that you are risking suicidal depression by doing so. Even when done voluntarily. Gender identity is a powerful force - you screw with it at your own risk.

u/RedStag00 · 2 pointsr/AskMen

> often aren't given the same amount of freedom to find help and support. I've learnt how lonely the male experience can be,

This was one of the bigger revelations Norah Vincent documented in her book Self-Made Man.

u/thisjibberjabber · 1 pointr/TwoXChromosomes

Could it be that all people have challenges and frustrations and sometimes get angry, with varying degrees of justification? Arguing that "my anger is justified and that of another group is not" is likely but won't really lead to deeper understanding or resolution of issues.

There was a book written by a woman writer who dressed in male drag for a year or so. She didn't find the experience as positive as expected.

Here is is: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OT8GTE?btkr=1

From a review:
>For 18 months, she disguised herself as a man, renamed herself Ned, joined a men's bowling league, visited strip bars, and dated women. Along the way, she found that the freedom and privileges enjoyed by men were counterbalanced by a constant testing and severe limits on emotions. She also found women to be distrustful, ever ready to criticize men for being emotionally distant yet clearly preferring men who met stereotypical images of strength and virility.

u/MikeMangum · 1 pointr/AskMen

Respect, and indifference. Those are the two big things, and they are related.

Compared to a woman, people are far less likely to feel sympathy for a man, to offer to help a man, etc. and are more likely to expect a man to be self sufficent. There will be far less, if any, empathy for a man. Men are not generally allowed by society to seek emotional support that women are allowed to - it is part of the expectation of self sufficiency. Men are held accountable far more than women are.

On the other hand, the reason people hold men more accountable, expect greater self sufficiency, and offer less emotional support is that men are more respected, which is not trivial. People unconsciously assume less agency for women. And of course, the whole subconscious understanding that eggs are expensive and sperm is cheap.

Womandhood is automatic. Manhood has to be earned. Everyone, men and women both, constantly hold men to a standard and judge them according to that standard. Men who fail to meet that standard aren't "real men". Women don't experience that at all.

Men are expected to be useful.

Although it has problems, focusing on some fairly marginal groups of men, the book Self Made Man in which Norah Vincent passes herself off as a man for a year, is something that I would recommend to anyone to read.