An ideal audience for this book could be women who are trying to learn more about the mysteries behind manhood. However, the audience could also include younger men who are having trouble fitting in or adapting the proverbial “brotherhood.” Vincent not only completely submerges herself in the male world but she finds male “companions” who are willing to accept her and teach her the male ways without them knowing that she’s actually a women. We not only see Vincent’s experiences as Ned, but we also observe how the men interact and help each other. Vincent creates memorable characters by generating dramatic scenes and finding people who are very extreme, like Ivan in chapter six. She doesn’t describe everyone she sees around her, but rather highlights the characters with whom she forms the closest bonds.
Norah’s choice to join a monastery in this chapter on “Life” was surprising. By only documenting the life of men in a religious, chaste monastery, Vincent only captured a small percentage of men. Despite her choice, Norah still did a good job relating this rare and secret lifestyle to the lives of men outside of the monastery. We believe that Norah’s choice to work for “Red Bull” companies was a great way to depict how gender affects the workforce. It was clear while working in the “Red Bull” atmosphere that gender played a key role in the job motives and practices. We were glad to read that Norah pointed out her attempt at selling door-to-door with a mixed gender group. While addressing this experience, Norah made it clear that the female salesperson had power with her gender and sexuality that Norah as “Ned” lacked.
To be honest, Vincent didn’t know what she was getting herself into when she visited the monastery or applied to be a sales representative. She took a leap of faith—and it was daunting—but as Ned, she adopted a confident, superior attitude. Although she states that she never truly felt comfortable, she faked it, feigning swagger and charm—which therefore made herself a more credible and authoritative source. In chapter 5 entitled “Life” she is highly inquisitive towards the monks, probing for hidden secrets and emotions and questioning her surroundings; but in chapter 6, “Work”, her tone transfers from curiosity to confidence, as she always seems to rehash situations and assess characters’ motives with self- assurance.
Vincent hit most, if not all, of the main aspects in one’s life, however, I think it would have been helpful if she had talked about everyday situations that more people can relate. Vincent placed herself in rather extreme situations which only a minority of men would actually experience. Although it made sense to show the extreme events in one’s life so the audience can read in between the lines, it would also have been helpful for the women readers to see what an average day for a man would have been like. Vincent provided an alternative perspective in addition to the numerous studies sociologists and psychologists have conducted surrounding this topic. We have covered a few readings in class (exploring the views of both men and women and society’s depiction of each gender’s certain roles) which can certainly be paralleled to Norah’s findings.
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