This book sets out to determine how much of the hype about the sensitive, post-feminist "new man" is based on fact, and why such images have proliferated in the media. McMahon focuses on the pivotal issue of men's relationship to the daily work of caring for people, revealing much confusion about the extent and the interpretation of change. Using statistical data, interview transcripts and media analysis, McMahon draws insightful distinctions between pleasure and performance, assistance and responsibility, consumption and production.