Man Enough

How does a boy learn to be a man?A man learns masculinity primarily from his father. But generations of boys who grow up without caring fathers or male mentors to emulate are left to guess what men are really like. They rely on cultural icons--larger-than-life images--as models of masculinity. As a result they grow up mirroring overblown myths of manhood. Obsessed with being man enough they become philanderers controllers and competitors--constantly overcompensating for their loss of a true role model yet sorely unprepared for family life.In Man Enough psychiatrist and family therapist Frank Pittman explores what it is like to grow up male today. With great poignancy humor and candor he weaves together case studies from his practice examples from literature and films plus personal vignettes from his own experiences as a father to examine these hyper-masculine men and to illustrate how they developed and how they can change. Dr. Pittman asserts that men can move past proving their masculinity and start practicing it by striving with the other guys rather than against them achieving equality and intimacy with their mates--and by fathering. A man raises himself as he raises children and learns to understand and forgive his parents as he becomes one.An important book for men and women Man Enough offers a new approach to issues of commitment caring and control and creates a positive model for the fathers of tomorrow's men.