Womanhood: The Bare Reality

Product Information

After Bare Reality came out, I found myself drawn, perhaps compelled, to create an inner psychological and creative balance, and explore men’s stories. Manhood: The Bare Reality is a collection of 100 intimate photographs and interviews with men, and explores themes of masculinity, gender and sexuality, offering a unique insight into what it means to be a man in the 21st century. I was born into a Muslim Pakistani family. I am no longer a Muslim and I kind of don’t tell people that I am Pakistani, but I am. I can take part because this is anonymous. There are two things that my family don’t know about me that would push them over the edge. One, that I’ve had sex and two, that I eat pork. Of course, they’re completely deluded if they think that I haven’t had sex.

Consultant gynecologist Dr Pandelis Athanasias says “there’s no such thing as a normal vagina – they naturally vary in size, shape or colour.”I went to the doctor and, although I was too young [24] for a smear test, she did one anyway. I was sent to the hospital for a colposcopy, which involves a camera going into the vagina. A consultant said, ‘I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t cancer’. Two weeks later it was confirmed. I felt hot, sweaty, shaky. ‘Cancer’ means dying, that’s what we all think it means. I was just 24, I couldn’t understand how this could be happening.

Sensitive and compassionate, Manhood will surprise you and reassure you. It may even make you reconsider what you think you know about men, their bodies and masculinity. The labia minora are usually first, and sometimes more prominent during the early stages. But it can be hard to find accurate information about this.”

Customer reviews

I’m 70 and I still enjoy sex. I see my current partner for extended weekends. For half the week I do my own thing: I look after my grandchildren, I belong to a women’s drama group, I see my friends. I was ready for the menopause to happen. I think we have to come to terms with life’s changes in the most positive way we can. You lose some of your lubrication, but a little bit of spit solves that problem.