The Descent of Man is a thoughtful, entertaining and self-revealing ramble about what it means to be a man, and what it could mean. A philosophical investigation into gender, The Descent of Man is as engaging as an accomplished lecture. Facts are introduced, and personal experience and research, but the reader is asked to engage rather than to accept a thesis whole.

Whilst Perry finds that the masculine manifesto is too long to fit on a business card, this book attempts to start writing one. I didn't know anything aside from the most public facts (crossdresser, artist) about Perry and read the book on a whim - there is no need to be interested in the author to find the book rewarding. And there are cartoons!

Highly recommend for anyone thinking (or trying not to think) about gender. A quick read.

I am an unashamed fan of Grayson Perry and his work as an artist and cultural commentator, so I was delighted to receive a copy of his latest book, The Descent of Man, from the publishers Allen Lane, a Penguin imprint.

Gender politics is a very live and current issue. Many of us who are passionate about equality are fearful of a mood in the world that seems determined to row back on much of the progress that has been made by successive waves of feminism. For some the battle appears to be won, and the struggles necessary to secure what has been achieved are forgotten and the results taken for granted. Those who continue to agitate for further progress to tackle the remaining hidden and cultural barriers can often be perceived as extremists, our accounts of the lived experience of being on the receiving end of sexism (personal or institutional) discounted or seen as hysterical exaggeration.

Grayson Perry's The Descent of Man looks at the impact of this changing social dynamic on men. He rightly points out that men have been as much the victim of narrow gender stereotypes as women have. A macho culture that prizes men as dominant bread winners, sexually promiscuous but emotionally repressed is just as damaging as the one that limits to domestic caring roles as wives and mothers, denies them career opportunities and judges them primarily by their sexual attractiveness. That impact is there if you look for it, present in indicators such as the high rates of suicide among men. But it is not widely talked about, particularly by men themselves. Instead, perversely, a small group of men seek to cling on to those outdated and narrow roles, railing against the loss of power and privilege that inevitably comes from a rebalancing and opening up of gender roles. As always, for a rebalancing to occur, some of those who have historically had power and privilege will lose it in favour of others, so it is in many ways unsurprising that so much anger can be directed against women and other groups seen to be benefitting.

Perry's central premise is that rather than engaging in blaming others, men should acknowledge the problems of the past and articulate a new, more inclusive identity that embraces contemporary society and exploits the opportunities of the contemporary world. It's a laudable aim, but Perry himself never quite manages to lay down the essentials of what that identity might be, or how to persuade people to buy into a more positive view of masculinity. Regardless, this is a powerful and timely book, excoriating in its criticism of aspects of contemporary masculinity and the damage that a narrow patriarchal view has on us all, men and women.

Goodreads rating: 5*

This is a very thought-provoking book written by arguably Britain’s best living artist, and certainly its most loved. Grayson Perry states “this book is about what I think masculinity is, and questioning whether masculinity is working for us, making us happy”. He feels that as a transvestite he has “a much sharper insight into what it is to be a man, since from the age of twelve I have been intensely questioning my own masculinity”. Grayson Perry strongly identifies as a man, even though he has a penchant for women’s clothing. This is clear from the cover, where he is pictured as “Default Man” rather than as his more famous alter ego Claire.
Grayson Perry does not want to minimise men, rather he wants this book to suggest “ways that our definitions of masculinity may expand” to the benefit of not just men, but of the whole world: “All of us males need to look at ourselves with a clear eye and ask what sort of men would make the world a better place”. He sees the currently acknowledged aspects of masculinity as not just being detrimental to women, and minority groups, but also as being really restrictive and having an adverse effect on most men, particularly in the area of mental health. Men are told they are born to lead, dominate and control – so what happens when they are not able to live up to expectations? Showing one’s emotions (except rage) is seen as being feminine, sissy – decidedly non-masculine - and heaven forbid you should talk about your problems, if you are a “real man”. So how are ordinary men supposed to cope when things do not always go their way? Falling back on violence and taking out their anger on others cannot be a positive way forward.
Grayson Perry talks so much sense. I keep wanting to include his thoughtful quotes in this review, but that would entail repeating most of the book, so you need to discover his wisdom on your own. This book is not just for ‘new’ men, or for women, but for everyone – especially those men clinging to inherent ideas of masculinity.
Today we live in a dangerous world, where the two most powerful individuals on the world stage, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, go out of their way to parade their masculine credentials. Putin with the endless photo-ops of him partaking in ‘real-man’ activities such as hunting, judo, carrying out foreign military missions, and discriminating against homosexuals, while the whole time looking like a gay pin-up. Trump with his bragging about the size of his penis and his ‘success’ with women, having the BIGGEST inauguration, building the most BEAUTIFUL wall, being the BEST, the SMARTEST at everything, the belittling and intimidation of opponents, the aggressive stance and finger pointing, all to show that he is a TRULY GREAT leader. Other male populist leaders are always trying to “take back control” without ever considering whether or why they may have lost control in the first place. I really wish they would all read this book and actually take time to think about what Grayson Perry is saying. And is that a pig I see flying overhead?
One day, hopefully, the ideas in this book will be so much part of humanity, that such a book will no longer be required.

I chose this book based on both the title and the author. As someone who is in the public eye, for a variety of different reasons, I was interested in his thoughts. Very emotive subject and good references to both his own conclusion and others. This book has made me look at men in a different light and work with them in a way that I had not considered before.

Very thought provoking book. I think that Grayson was indulging in a little self therapy writing this book as he revisited his childhood a lot.

Grayson Perry's The Descent of Man follows on from his recent TV series, All Man, and sets out to examine and interrogate masculinity in British society. What does 'being a man' mean? How has that become restricted into very specific and restrictive forms of appearance and behaviour? And Grayson then goes on to consider how this narrow definition of accepted masculinity has become not just the source of oppression of women, but a dangerous and depressing set of standards and restrictions on men, which is the cause of a lot of their own misery.

Now, I'll say this out the gate - Grayson is clearly a feminist. And a very robust one. He is articulate and specific about the subjugation of women, the need for quotas to address institutional bias, and articulate about pressures for gendered behaviour, and roles and responsibilities. This is important as I had been anxious that this could be a text that could be seen as excusing male behaviour and violence, or a #NotAllMen manifesto. Far from it. Grayson writes about all this explicitly. But his focus here is, what is masculinity? How has this come about? And what can we do about it?

Through his interviews for his TV series, interrogation of his own experiences, and great use of data, Grayson builds up a persuasive view of masculinity as a redundant and dangerous collection of accepted normative behaviour and standards: the need for dominance, expression of superiority, tribalism, success, and rejection of perceived 'feminine' roles and behaviours.

There are great sections where he mocks the uselessness and empty arrogance of this masculinity, such as in his segment on bankers. But Grayson, whilst expressly acknowledging the unacceptable results for women of these, goes on to demonstrate how masculinity is harming men.

Grayson is a terrific writer and I've long respected him as a cultural voice. But it is very important to acknowledge how necessary it is for men to speak to men like this. As feminists, women expressing this has often been met with hostility - as with all things feminist. For there to be a breakthrough, men need to be having these conversations with themselves. And for Grayson to so strongly and so publicly discuss matters such as emotional vulnerability, raising boys, and transvestism is to be supported.

Perhaps being a woman I may not share his full compassion - he mentions at one point that men fear being ridiculed. Women obviously fear worse. But Grayson too has been a victim of male violence and has worked for years in therapy to address issues definitions of masculinity have given him, and this is a far stronger more explicit condemnation of masculinity than I had expected. In fact, I would go so far to say that, man, this text needs to be required reading for men the length and breadth of the country because it would really, really help. There is compassion here, and for men to reconcile themselves to losing their dominance without violent recourse then I suspect a compassionate approach is required. Even though I may, personally, be rapidly running out of sympathy for fragile masculinity.

Library thing

I think it is important to note that is most certainly isn’t a study of or on masculinity. It is merely his very much subjective view of masculinity, masculine identity and power, which is strongly influence by his feminine side and modern feminist themes.

Rethinking our perhaps outdated perception of machoism and masculinity when it comes to men, I suppose it depends on who is doing the rethinking really.

The question is whether Perry feels he has a clearer view of the male species, because he is more in touch with his feminine side. Not only because Perry is a transvestite, but rather due to the fact he seems to be very aware of himself and others. I would say that is also the case for the new category of men in the 21st century called metrosexuals. I wonder if Perry took those men into consideration when he was writing, as opposed to the typical typecast Neanderthal like male.

Overall it does seem a wee bit of a lopsided view, albeit an often amusing one. The book starts out strong, however it does taper off towards the last chapters.

His chapter on male violence seemed a little under-researched. Hmm maybe that is the wrong word, more like not enough depth. Given his childhood and personal experiences with a violent stepfather perhaps it is a subject he would rather only skim over instead of delving into too deeply.

I think the most interesting aspect of this book is the readers it attracts, possibly everyone except the macho group it actually speaks to and refers to the most. ‘Just saying’
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of The Descent of Man.*

I saw this program on the television and was pleased to be given the opportunity to read the companion book. As an artist Grayson Perry is a very acute observer of society. He is intelligent and thoughtful. I found it an excellent and enjoyable book. I read it with the 'voice' of Grayson in my head.

Grayson Perry is known mostly for his artwork and transvestism. Here he draws on his own experiences with masculinity and femininity to explore traditional ideas about what it means to be masculine, and challenge those ideas. It's an easy, interesting read, complete with some great artwork.

Where it fails a little is when considering this alongside other books about gender. It works better as a memoir on Perry's growing up and transvestism. The Descent of Man is very personal - which alternated between being a positive and a negative. His experiences as a boy trying on his mother's dresses and redefining his own personal gender norms were great to read about and kept the pages turning, but what this book adds to the discussion on gender and masculinity is less impressive.

Perry doesn't cite any references, though his ideas have already been brought forward by numerous other writers - most notably, Judith Butler in Gender Trouble. Anyone who has read a little into gender studies already knows what he tells us: that masculinity is a social construct; that the patriarchy and gender binary are damaging to women, men and those who identify as both or neither; that a better world, a better notion of masculinity, would allow men to be weak, vulnerable and emotional.

He sets out with two clear agendas: 1) To expose the social construct of masculinity, and 2) Convince men it is beneficial to them to change the traditional idea of what it means to be "masculine".

He does the first mostly by reiterating the work of other writers. By far his most valuable contribution to the gender discussion is his idea of the "Default Man" - an oblivious creature who doesn't see the detriment to society caused by traditional ideas of gender because they tend to work in his favour. Too bad Perry makes way too many generalizations with this idea without pausing to consider how some might intentionally use it to their own benefit, or simply not care about the harm it does because of their personal beliefs or gains.

Additionally, by his own admission, he wishes to convince these "Default Men" that they should change, and despite showing his own experiences and how a new interpretation of masculinity could benefit him, I don't think he did that. The later chapters of the book lost the initial focus and I felt it lacked a strong conclusion as to how the "Default Man" would benefit from a change. The DM, by his nature, believes in traditional masculinity that shuns male weakness, so offering him the opportunity to be weak feels, itself, like a weak argument.

Also, though he expresses many ideas aligned with feminist ideology, he refers to them as "the feminists", a separate group - it seems - from himself. And though I don’t believe he meant this to be derogatory, his clear desire to distance himself from the word was unfortunate, given the book seems in many ways a feminist one.

Still, a quick and interesting read. I especially liked Perry's acknowledgement of the masculine and feminine traits that can exist alongside one another in anyone. They are not mutually exclusive. In fact, this reminded me of one of my favourite songs: When I Was a Boy by Dar Williams.

https://vikzwrites.wordpress.com/2017/01/18/odds-and-ends-wrap-up/

This is clear and commonsensical, as well as sensitive on the travails of being masculine - not only the binds it straps onto women, but how it inhibits men from being fully themselves - for Grayson Perry it means that he expresses himself in women's clothing most comfortably. He sets out on a broad cultural critique of male habits and attitudes, behaviour and dress and styles of talking - groups etc - most sympathetically but also critically. There is embedded in here also suggestions ineasy ways to counter the effects of what traditional 'masculinity' is to make your life better. Women can read this too as a good contemplation of what gender is - how to look for its trappings culurally and sociologically - really well done and thoughtful, and well written. All about howto be an artist too - which for Perry is closely intertwined.

Perry does a good job presenting his views on masculinity. Although the ideas presented here were not new to me, this is a pretty good place for most people to start with examining masculinity which, as he outlines in the book, would benefit everyone.

After watching Perry's documentaries on channel four, I knew I would greatly enjoy The Descent of Man. Perry has touched on this subject before, and as I was well aware of his background, I really enjoyed this read. I think it's refreshing for a man to write about the failure of men (and in turn Mankind) and agreed with a lot of his points.