Quiz-Chapter 1: Kaylee Cardinal

1.) The first time Norah Vincent tried passing as a man in public, she stated that she learned so much for only being dressed as a male for a few hours. However, she says she wasn’t ready to do something like this for much longer at the time and therefore filed the information away for a few years. Do you think Vincent’s observations would’ve been different if she would’ve gone through with becoming a male years earlier? Explain.

Answer: Yes I think that Vincent’s observations would’ve been a lot different. I feel that age makes a big difference. Relating back to My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan, I think that her thoughts and observations would’ve been a lot different too if she was younger than fifty years old. There is no way that any fifty year old person can put themselves in a college students body and understand what is going through their minds. Along the same lines, even though it wasn’t that much longer that she decided to try it again, I still think things would’ve been different. The younger she would’ve been the more different her outlook on things would’ve been.


2.) What is one thing that Vincent talks about regarding stereotypes or gender identity? Do you think that this is common still today and does it impact women at all?

Answer: One topic Vincent talks about regarding gender identity is the way males look at females and how they act towards them. She mentions how men would sit outside on stoops in the neighborhood and stare at woman as they walked by. Men would sit and stare at women from head to toe but eventually the woman just got used to it and didn’t think twice when it happened. In my opinion, this is very common today, not by all men, but it is definitely seen by some. It is a common saying that men look at women like a “piece of meat” and they don’t even care who they are or what they look like. I think at first it may affect women because they may wonder if something is wrong with them, but after awhile they will most likely get used to it and realize that is just how some men are.


3.) On page 19, Norah Vincent refers to her experiment as “meddling”—why do you think she labels it as this? Do you agree?

Answer: I think Norah Vincent says that this research that she is doing is meddling because it interferes with her personal life a lot. She obviously ends up changing a lot about herself, but physical and mental, and so it is probably hard for her to technically have two minds. She has to act like a man and try to see things that men do, yet still take notes and make observations for the research she was doing. I’m sure she got very tied down at times. However, it was her choice to do this and she had always been interested in a man’s world, so to describe it as meddling may be a little much and a word such as hectic or demanding may be a better declaration.


4.) Norah Vincent describes to us what the remaining chapters will be about and what experiences she will be encountering in the rest of the book (such as joining the bowling team, the strip club culture, dating, and working as man). Do you think that she chose the right topics?

Answer: The fact that Norah Vincent is putting herself in all of these difficult situations really impressed me. I am somewhat nervous to find out what happens and I bet the situations she was in were really hard for her so I give her a lot of credit. I feel that all of the topics she chose about were great and we are going to get a sense of every aspect of a man’s life. Had she not taken these risks, the book definitely would’ve suffered a bit.

Summarizer: Linda Lee

Chapter one: Getting Started

Norah Vincent’s initiative of the book “Self-made Man; One Woman’s Year Disguised As A Man” took place in seven years ago. Vincent had acquainted with a drag king whom dared Vincent to try passing as a man in public which Vincent agreed on doing willingly. The drag king friend of Vincent specialized in creating a beard which filled a big part of the transformation of becoming a man that night which stunned Vincent. Vincent confessed she was too afraid to interact with anyone. She was too scared to be recognized and fooled by people for the disguise. The major difference Vincent noticed between the opposite sexes when she walked by bodegas where a group of men who did not look at them as they did when Vincent was not disguised. Vincent had a realization of her anger for such disrespectful treatment for women in a society from men’s gaze on the street. Vincent was clearly offended and the incident inspired her to be on this project.
Vincent, then, approached to steps to build a man in herself. Naming herself ‘Ned’ was “the starting point for a male identity.” Vincent also talked about the reason behind her made-name ‘Ned’ which were greatly affected by her childhood with her three brothers and a tomboy Vincent. Vincent hired a makeup artist, fitness trainer and a tutor from the Julliard School to fake a five o'clock shadow and trained for months to imitate more likely a deeper male voice who all helped Vincent qualified to be a real ‘Ned’ for a year. In order to effectively pose as a male, she had undergone the physical transformation such as a developed strategy of hiding her breasts and building muscles. Vincent explained that in other chapters in the book, she describes her experiences as a man in sex clubs, on dates, in a monastery, and as part of a men's support group. She also mentioned that all the regions and names would be pseudonyms on behalf of people who provided her the experience. She clearly sounds very committed to what she has done and she mentioned of the price she had to pay due to her emotional and circumstantial deceptions throughout this experience.

Disguised Men and Women from Movies

The movie 'She's the man' is the perfect example of a woman's disguised time as a man. Viola (Amanda Bines) goes undercover as her brother Sebastain in order to play soccer in the school's scoccer team and she experiences major differences between both sexes. This movie certainly has a theme about gender and it's clearly portrayed in the film.

Chapter 1 Graphic Organizer: Tony Baregi

In my graphic organizer of chapter one, I listed some of the key elements needed to become the image of a man. Vincent listed her background as being the only girl in a family of boys, and how she had always been a tomboy having never played with dolls. She also described the process of how she obtained the appearance of a man. She started with a flat top hair cut, five o’clock shadow, and working out with a personal trainer that would help her broaden her shoulders.

Vocabulary Builder: Kaylee Moore

Chapter 1 Vocabulary

Unobtrusive (1)- Not undesirably noticeable or blatant; inconspicuous

Willowy (2)- (of a person) tall, slender, and moving gracefully.

Bodegas (2)- a warehouse for storing or aging wine.

Semiprurient (2)- Inordinately interested in matters of sex; lascivious

Concertedly (2)- contrived or arranged by agreement; planned or devised together: a concerted effort.

Averted (2)- To turn away

Tortoiseshell (11)- any synthetic substance made to look like natural tortoise shell.

Tumescence (15)- swelling; slightly tumid.

Proclivities (16)- natural or habitual inclination or tendency

Unwieldy (17)- not readily handled or managed in use or action, as from size, shape, or weight; awkward; ungainly.

Journal Entry #1--Self Made Man: One Woman’s Year Disguised As a Man :Feb. 26, 2009

Before we started reading the book we know that the author Norah Vincent is a female who is going undercover as a male. She completed her research within a year and a half and learned a different way of living, as a male named Ned. Vincent transformed her entire appearance to make sure that no one would realize she was in fact a woman disguised as a man. She set out on her research to break the stereotype that this is a “man’s world” and women are just living in it. The book questions the ideas of gender identity and discovers the behaviors men partake in when women are not around. We were also told that she actually dated as a male and tried having relationships with women. The book is for a mature audience that is willing to be open minded to her ideas and discoveries.
Some common biases and stereotypes of the male subculture are, that most of the time men look at women as though they are a “piece of meat” and not realizing that they have feelings too. For example, Vincent was walking outside a bar and noticed a man eyeing her and looking her up and down. This made her realize that she could never be invisible as a woman, she would always be a object of desire and lust.
On the other hand, Vincent might have wanted to prove somehow that men can also be as sensitive as women and she might have felt some sort of compassion towards the normative the society has about men. Men are expected to be strong, dominant and brave at all times; however, they are not much more different from women.
Even women have the misconception that guys have it so much easier than women. They do not have to worry as much about their outer appearance like women do. Women are supposed to look their best at all times; perfect hair, make-up, and well put together. However, there are some males that do not care whether a woman wears make up or fashionable clothes. So women may in fact worry too much about their appearance for nothing.
By reading this book, at least for the women of the group, we want to learn if our misconceptions about men are true or not. Reading a book written by a woman disguised as a man will help us to further understand why men do the things they do, and what activities they partake in when we are not around. Tony is interested in seeing how women actually view men, and interested in seeing how they talk about them when they are not around. Overall, it will be interesting to view Vincent’s findings and learn from her experience as a man.
Our group chose this book because it is extremely controversial. It questions gender identity and the reasons why men and women behave the way they do. Our group was interested to see how Vincent was treated after her year disguised as a man. We are interested in seeing how her guy friends view her and think of her after she told them she was actually a woman. We also wanted to see how she actually transformed into a man, and dated women in the process.
The topic of Self Made Man is significant to our group because it will give us a deeper understanding of the male subculture. It will also enlighten us and answer our questions about men, and show the male population that females are trying their best to understand them. We are looking forward to reading Self Made Man and learning even more about how it feels to be a woman living in a “man’s world.”

Blog Guide To the Text

Kaylee Moore thought that Self Made Man was a completely new book for her. She had never heard of it before this English class. When she researched it through and figured out what it was about she was intrigued. She hasn't had much experience with the gay and lesbian cultures, or even cross dressing for that matter. She is aware of what these groups are about, and how they behave with one another and other individuals, but she does not have a full understanding of why they act the way they do. Being a heterosexual female, reading Self Made Man will test her open mindedness to theses two different subcultures. Anyone who reads a controversial book like this is affected by the morals and the values they have grown up with. Growing up in a heterosexual household in an area without any type of cross dressing puts Kaylee in situation of little understanding of this book. This means that she will learn more from it and hopefully gain a better understanding of the two subcultures she barely knows anything about.

Self-Made Man can be interpreted in many different ways, depending on the reader. Kaylee found out that she does not have a lot in common with Norah Vincent or Ned. She had never had a lot of background information regarding cross dressing so this book was definitely new to her. Kaylee has grown up in a heterosexual household for eighteen years and therefore has been involved in multiple relationships with males. Unlike Ned, Kaylee wears a size eight shoes and does not have a 5 o’clock shadow. She is a strong Catholic and attends church almost every Sunday. She feels that every person who reads this book will have a completely different outlook and take on it. Some people may relate more to Norah Vincent than others and have more in common with her. She feels this affects how one interprets this book and can allow one to agree or disagree with her conclusions. Kaylee is looking forward to learning more about the male culture and keeping in mind Vincent’s cross over to Ned.

Before Tony read the book Self Made Man, by Norah Vincent he did not know much about the subculture of cross-dressing. Tony was from a community of mostly heterosexual people, and was not used to being around the gay/ lesbian subculture. Tony came from a Roman Catholic Church, which did not really have that many people that were from this subculture. With this background the book was going to be a completely new experience. The book Self Made Man should give Tony a better understanding of the cross-dressing subculture. There is much to learn about this culture and in the end will hopefully give Tony a more well rounded view on the world around him.

There were a couple of films about disguised men and women Linda had watched in the past and found them amusing and refreshing to her. The first thought of the book Self Made Man for Linda was completely familiar since she herself found it easier to be with guy friends than girl friends and sometimes questioned the nature of opposite sexes to herself. However, Linda feels there are still a lot of things that she is not aware of and will soon learn about them in Vincent's point of view. Linda herself has felt sexual discrimination in this world and often let down by the thought and she hopes that this Self Made Man would provide some different future perspective about the notion and make both sexes understand about differences and similarities in order to improve ideas about them.