Review of Masculinity and Its Discontents: The Male Psyche and the Inherent Tensions of Maturing Manhood

Reviews the book, Masculinity and Its Discontents: The Male Psyche and the Inherent Tensions of Maturing Manhood by Michael J. Diamond (2021). This book is first and foremost an exploration of the “inherent tensions of maturing manhood.” Its greatest value lies in the careful unraveling of the contradictions and conflicts that characterize the male developmental process throughout the life cycle. The reviewer believes that men and women alike intuitively grasp the fundamental fragility of manhood and are well-acquainted with the disintegration products of the male self. Diamond’s carefully delineated developmental scheme deepens our understanding of what this fragility is about—how it arises, the functions it serves, and how it manifests in the clinical situation. The cumulative effect of the book’s eight chapters is to build an empathic understanding of the challenges of masculinity, in effect mirroring the male’s central developmental task of discovering and valuing interiority and emotional life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)