Manhood: The Bare Reality

Product Information

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.” 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 I was surprised, however, by the honesty. I don’t think men are given much opportunity to be honest and raw about their lives and feelings. I had never heard men talk like this. They really do vary a lot more than I thought, which was interesting, and how men feel about them varies just as much.” Surprise, surprise that you have any inquiry or need to eliminate any substance recorded here if it's not too much trouble, goStarting Manhood was different compared to Bare Reality. I'm used to seeing women in the changing room but I've generally only seen adult penises in sexual settings so it was a little bit embarrassing and awkward to start with. I just tried to make sure none of that came across and kept the environment safe and professional." 3. Most men think they're too small Dodsworth has previously explored bodies with her book, Bare Reality, about people's relationships with their breasts. She says her projects are born from her relationship with her own body, and exploring what that might mean for men. During the course of creating Bare Reality, I felt very connected to my sense of womanhood,” Dodsworth tells me.

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’ It took two years to find and photograph 100 women for this photographic categorisation of the female breast. They were aged 19 to 101, and from all walks of life, from Buddhist nun to burlesque dancer. The artwork illustrated a book entitled ‘Bare Reality’, now in its second edition. Each photograph is accompanied short first person stories which offer, en masse, a striking counter-narrative to the objectification of the female body. A lot more men feel a sense of shame or anxiety about their size, or an aspect of their performance, than I would have thought. What really moved me is how much that shame and inadequacy had bled into different parts of their life.” Object of fear and arousal. Symbol of dominance. Source of anxiety. A potent combination of power and pleasure. Once upon a time, penises occupied their place on the pedestal with pride, from the holy worship of the phallus in ancient Rome to the Shiva Linga, but they have also long been associated with base level male banter, ridicule and fear. Today, in the wake of #MeToo and #TimesUp has the penis become even more taboo? And how does a young generation of men feel about masculinity being labelled “toxic”?This is a book of interviews of 100 penis-owning people, who are invited to talk about their penis, sexuality, relationships, and pretty much anything they feel is important to communicate about themselves and their lives. There is a photo in each case of their penis. In Manhood: The Bare Reality, photographer Laura Dodsworth views the concept of masculinity via the penis. 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. It’s divisive to have all these projections about what men and women do. None of it’s helpful. We have to just experience each other in the moment.” Womanhood’ offers a visual range of normal, which is all too needed today. But on another level, the photographs are beautiful and mesmerising visual signposts through the politics of power, shame, identity, sexuality and inequality that inform our sexed experience of the world as women.

A wonderful, enlightening and humanising book about men." - Dr Anand Patel, specialist in sexual medicine men bare all in a collection of photographs and interviews about manhood and 'manhood'. These days we are all less bound by gender and traditional roles, but is there more confusion about what being a man means? From veteran to vicar, from porn addict to prostate cancer survivor, men from all walks of life share honest reflections about their bodies, sexuality, relationships, fatherhood, work and health in this pioneering and unique book. Just as Bare Reality: 100 women, their breasts, their stories presented the un-airbrushed truth about breasts for women, Manhood: The Bare Reality shows us the spectrum of 'normal', revealing men's penises and bodies in all their diversity and glory, dispelling body image anxiety and myths. 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". 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.”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. From smooth Barbie dolls to internet porn, girls and women grow up with a very narrow view of what they should look like, even though in reality there is an enormous range. Womanhood departs from the ‘ideal vagina’ and presents the gentle un-airbrushed truth, allowing us to understand and celebrate our diversity. 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? Men really opened up and discussed anxieties, OCD and full-blown depression and suicidal thoughts. There are a lot of mental health stories in the book. They all really opened up emotionally and it felt like a very rare glimpse into men's inner world. There are men in the book who say they have never talked about this to anybody." I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't really what I was expecting. The interviewees talked relatively little about their penises per se. They talked about their childhoods and relationships with their parents or families, and walked you through the things that were most tender and vulnerable, and often still unresolved, for them.