Hidden Anxieties whilst acknowledging the subordination of women, uncovers the complexities of a masculinity that pays its price for the crude reading of male sexuality as 'given', 'potent' and 'dangerous' with a pitiful account of pain and sadness. Hall ushers in a vision of frustrated inadequate men, lost in their bravado with no language through which to express their fears and concerns. Is this the cost of domination?
The 'evidence' in this hugely well researched document comes from advice literature and health journals but primarily from the many thousands of letters received by Marie Stopes, and the work of the medical profession generally.
This is a fascinating book which, in a similar vein to Foucault's work, offers much to the debate about the way in which sexuality is constructed historically. There is no attempt to extricate men from the predicament of sexual difficulties, rather this is a look at life behind the myth. It challenges men both as patients and doctors to break away from the straight-jacket of denial and begin a dialogue which encompasses those areas of our lives touched only by private bookshops, special clinics and penis-enhancing creams.
Nigel Larcombe
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