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A review by nathanaracena
The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry
4.0
Grayson Perry for UK Ambassador for how we address gender based roles please and thank you. This book resonates so much with me, particularly as a male who feels the pangs of toxic masculinity on a near daily basis. From as little as the “man up” statements to the more psychologically scarring bullying both physically and mentally as “alpha” males try to assert a dominance like they’re some form of predator in the Savannah.
Perry covers so much content throughout and whilst much is quite well known and not particularly anything new, his charm and wit have you chuckling away as he puts lightheartedness into a fairly bleak topic. As a cross dressing man, he’s better equipped to many to discuss how frail masculinity is viewed, and he shows throughout a real compassion with both genders in coming to a point where both can live in a better world. Women with more (equal) rights and men with the loss of pressure to be “men” and the empathy to see that in losing some rights/toxic traits, they can benefit as much as will women.
I genuinely think we need books like this in school curriculums. We’re in a new era with new views and opinions and books like this can only help people progress and adapt to the times, rather than being left behind.
Perry covers so much content throughout and whilst much is quite well known and not particularly anything new, his charm and wit have you chuckling away as he puts lightheartedness into a fairly bleak topic. As a cross dressing man, he’s better equipped to many to discuss how frail masculinity is viewed, and he shows throughout a real compassion with both genders in coming to a point where both can live in a better world. Women with more (equal) rights and men with the loss of pressure to be “men” and the empathy to see that in losing some rights/toxic traits, they can benefit as much as will women.
I genuinely think we need books like this in school curriculums. We’re in a new era with new views and opinions and books like this can only help people progress and adapt to the times, rather than being left behind.