One of the boys? : Changing views of masculinity in New Zealand

Michael King

""One of the boys?" is about being male in New Zealand. In it a range of men -- Maori and Pakeha, Catholic and Protestant, liberal and conservative, heterosexual and gay -- write about the initiations and rituals of male culture, of how views of masculinity have changed over the past 70 years, and of how they have coped, or not coped, with these changes. This is a first attempt by New Zealand men to understand themselves and the influences that conditioned them. It is not simply a book about male problems, however. As the editor notes, it is concerned equally with what makes men good responsible and integrated human beings. All New Zealand men will recognise aspects of their lives in this book: relations with fathers and "mates", with girl-friends and wives; the pervasive effects of Scouts, the Army, combat, rugby and alcohol. "One of the boys?" mirrors the lives of most males born between the First World War and the 1950s; and reading it will affect the manner in which New Zealand men and women view their lives in the future."--Back cover.