Sir, - Brendan Glacken's witty and philosophical treatment of the current paradigm of maleness in "The male order changeth" was the stimulus that elicited this response. He expressed regret that new frames of reference with regard to masculinity were being formulated by some research based intelligentsia, minus feedback or input by any of the said phenomena the males of the species themselves.
His point, it could be stated, is very valid. I have some good news for him I am studying for an honours degree in psychology in Trinity College and have chosen, for my moderatorship project, to investigate the plight of the present day male. I contend that he is seated in the painfully uncomfortable position between two stools, the one being that of Freudian superiority which he enjoyed for a few centuries, and the other the New Age tenet of mere equality with females.
This unhealthy psychological state of contradiction and conflict is termed Bateson's double bind the bases of many neuroses and anxieties. I intend interviewing a large sample of "transition males", as they could be termed, who have been given both messages in their lifetime.
I hereby offer Brendan, and indeed any other "blokes" of his acquaintance, the opportunity to put their voices on record by responding to my questionnaire. I guarantee the fair and sympathetic hearing of a female who has lived long enough to have looked at both sides of the coin and who has grown from feminism, through masculism, into humanism. In return, I would make my findings available when the report is written up. Yours, etc. (aged 45), Verbena Avenue, Sutton, Dublin 13.