Cross-dressing artist Grayson Perry sets out
in print many of the ideas he presented in his “All Man” TV series.
He challenges the accepted norms of
masculinity, questioning both their validity and usefulness of what he sees as
out-dated values, and placing the blame for much of mankind’s woes – violence,
crime and warfare – on them.
He also sees the damage ‘manning up’ can do
individual men left unable to deal with emotional issues.
It is all very persuasive but there is no
blueprint to fix the problem. Indeed he seems to accept there is a difficulty
defining what the exact problem is, just that there is something wrong with the
society’s current model. He really just issues a plea to allow men to be people
rather than men, and find their own way unhindered by past generations’
baggage. Some hope!
It is a short thought-provoking work with,
perhaps inevitably, the artist’s own pithy illustrations the most impactful
feature.
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