manhood

Manhood It is said one cannot understand or empathize with someone else unless "you walk a mile in their moccasins." John Howard Griffin did just that, darkened his skin and took a walk into the Deep South to see how it would feel to be a member of a despised minority during 1959, the height of the Jim Crow years, when water fountains and rest rooms were separate for the races, when a black man or woman couldn't eat in a restaurant or get a hotel room. The book is of course dated, but it is unique in that it is a viewpoint that is undeniably credible. Here is a white guy, saying: "It happened to me, just because my skin was dark. Believe it." He suffers the indignity of finding everyday tasks that become almost insurmountable--to find a restroom, a bus seat, a park bench, someplace to eat, to be left alone without fear of harassment. And it's this harassment and outright fear that changes Griffin to the point he had to finally abandon his project. Like Griffin I want to experiment and switch to a man.
The question I have is what is it feels like to be a man in today’s society, how male view their masculinity? How differences in age religion and culture can have effect on masculinity?
So I started my adventure by changing my appearance shaved my hair and took male hormones. My transformation was shocking, I looked in the mirror and saw reflected nothing of a female. However before I put my experiment into action I decided to have three gate-keepers from different background and ages to help me understand masculinity. All the interviews were held in public settings such as cafes or at the homes, where they could be comfortable talking privately and put them at ease. The first interview was early in the morning with Alex a twenty year old young man. The opening topics cover was his favorite sports and his current pastimes. After about 45 minutes I asked him, ‘when did he become a man?’ The