Inside Out: The Many Faces of Men; Southport Academic Stephen Whitehead Lifts the Lid on Masculinity to Disclose 27 Types of Men. Penny Fray Reports

Byline: Penny Fray

YOU may think that you know all there is to understand about men. But do you? With hand on heart,can you really say that you haven ever felt the need to question why so many blokes appear to love their football teams more than their children or never call when they promised they would.

I suspect not. That's why Southport sociologist Stephen Whitehead has finally decided to lift the lid on masculinity and disclose 27 different types of chaps in his latest book ``The Many Faces of Men'' (Random House pounds 6.99).

``It is a fascinating subject,'' explains the 53-year-old expert. ``Contemporary research into men and maleness tells us that masculinity is fluid and ever chang-ing while remaining culturally and historically specific. In short, there is not just one type of guy out there,but many.''

As an academic who has studied and written numerous books about the subject of masculinity for the last 15 years, Stephen admits that he is not only trying to sex up sociology with his latest offering but make it more accessible to the lay-person.

``This bookcameabout as an attempt to pin down the different patterns of behaviour that underlie the contemporary male species,'' he explains. ``It is based on a mixture of the latest academic research,my own work in sociological theory, interviews with women and the best experts in the field as well as a lifetime of personal observation.''

There is no doubt that Stephen manages to …

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Publication information: Article title: Inside Out: The Many Faces of Men; Southport Academic Stephen Whitehead Lifts the Lid on Masculinity to Disclose 27 Types of Men. Penny Fray Reports. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Daily Post (Liverpool, England). Publication date: January 13, 2004. Page number: 18. © 2009 MGN Ltd. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group.

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