Manhood: The Bare Reality

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Breasts and penises are not direct counterparts but both embody ideas of femininity and masculinity, womanhood and manhood, and offer intimate windows into our emotional and psychological worlds.” As for the pictures, did she hear many jokes about the temperature in the studio? “Lots. It was one of the first things some people said. In the summer it was fine, but in the winter I was very anxious to keep the heating up high for people.”

My men friends and I don’t have the sort of friendships where we talk about personal things. I never really knew how to make it different” The conventional wisdom is that men don’t like to talk about things, and that they are suffering and even dying because they don’t talk about this part of their body.” My boy is very in touch with how he feels and I encourage that. I think it’s important that as fathers we step up. At the moment, in the collective… there’s more discussion about self-development.” Prior to cancer, the majority of dialogue with my close male friends included random bantering, ‘roasting’ each other, and discussing movies, but nothing of real substance. I think this really aligns with what “traditional manhood” is all about – keeping deep thoughts and feeling to yourself. Since my experiences with testicular cancer, many of my conversations with my friends have delved into more serious topics, including taking care of their health and taking a real look at the future.If women are going to stand there and expose themselves in that open way, then to be one of the men who is willing to do that is a really positive thing.”

Vagina, vulva, lady garden, pussy, beaver, cunt, fanny...whatever you call it most women have no idea what’s ‘down there’. Culturally and personally, no body part inspires love and hate, fear and lust, worship and desecration in the same way.As men, we are told to be have a cool, calm exterior, never cry, brush things off. But you need to have emotion.” The same themes run through everything I do: my work is an exploration of people, our lives and our place in the world. I’m drawn to telling the untold story with integrity. As a small child, you were told, ‘Big boys don’t cry.’ I think this is why men sometimes have a higher incidence of some of the serious illnesses because we don’t like to complain about being ill.” The second quote in this section bemoans that that guy didn’t know how to make it different. In my opinion, he’s halfway there. Recognizing that a disparity exists is the first step, and it must be followed by concrete action steps to fix this. Be that guy to take the first step and ask about personal things with your buddies. Eventually, it will feel less awkward. Transitioning from “traditional manhood” to “transformational manhood” In each of the 100 photos in the book, you see penis and testicles, stomach, hands, and thighs. The participants are between 20 and 92; some of them are friends, and all of them met she via word of mouth.

Thus opens Manhood: The Bare Realityby Laura Dodsworth. This book is a sequel of sorts to The Bare Reality, the original book in the series where 100 women had their breasts photographed and shared what it meant to them to be a woman. In this edition, penises took the stage as men shared their stories of what manhood meant to them (including Band of Ballers alumni Matt Wakefield). Sensitive and compassionate, Manhood will surprise you and reassure you. It may even make you reconsider what you think you know about men, their bodies and masculinity. Masculinity is such a big topic. I asked a lot of men, "what does it mean for you to be a man" - and their answers ranged from "tall, strong, hairy" to "being a provider, looking after your family" to "just being a good person. It's the same as being a woman".She says what surprised her most about the whole process is the shame and anxiety many men feel about the size of their manhood. Manhood: The Bare Reality provides an important contribution to the emotional and physical exploration of men and masculinities. Intimate interviews offer insight into how men navigate sex, desire, hopes and anxieties; these diverse inner lives are complemented with images that document equally diverse bodies. Read it to understand men better, both inside and out." - Dr Joseph Gelfer, researcher of men and masculinities

Each interview took between 30 and 60 minutes and no two were quite alike. “Some people come into an interview and they don’t need questions, they will just talk and some people really need the questions to help them open up.” My recent focus on fear follows a trajectory of interest in the taboo and what makes us who we are. You might say I went from pillow talk to nightmares. You see, it all started with the Bare Realityseries… The aubergine is the best emoji for this project – but I haven’t used it myself, because I don’t want to reduce masculinity to an aubergine’ What do a veteran and a vicar, a porn addict and a prostate cancer survivor, a would-be father and an ex-con have in common? They have all bared their soul – and the contents of their trousers – to photographer Laura Dodsworth, the author of a new book Manhood: The Bare Reality. It consists of 100 photographs of naked men, from the navel down, accompanied by interviews of each, typically starting off by describing how they feel about their penis. What do they look like? All one hundred of these interviews are intimate and exploratory and give us candid, honest and sometimes difficult insights in what it means to be a man in the 21st Century. Manhood shows us the spectrum of ‘normal’, revealing men’s penises and bodies in all their diversity and glory, helping in dispelling body image anxiety and myths.

Dodsworth took different approaches depending on who she was talking to. “The way I’d handle an interview with a vicar would be completely different to how I’d handle and interview with a BDSM practitioner. One thing I asked absolutely everybody was how they felt about their penis, and every interview started like that, unless they went off in their own direction.” The chill factor I don’t think feminism should rewind, but there needs to be a way for men to say it’s hard for us, that we hurt. [But] that should take place away from feminism” I’m not going to weigh in too much on these quotes since they do an excellent job of speaking for themselves. While my commentary is absent, I made it a point to include them here to show that many many are aware of the dichotomy of being raised in the “traditional manhood” eras as we enter into the “transformational manhood” time. The concept of “transformational manhood” This book is quite informative and it is really cool that these men were able to expose themselves and to hear their honesty about their feelings and their lives. It is neat to see the changing of old patriarchic thought patterns to something that is more supportive towards themselves and women.