Ross shows a broad understanding of men and their psychology and shares some of his earlier brilliant insights on the reinterpretation of the Oedipus complex, great literature as a source of examples and models for the varieties of the love experience, the transition to fatherhood, and the meaning of being a father in men's lives.
Ross presents a psychoanalytic study of male development by focusing on a boy's early identification with his mother, his ambitions to become a father, the aggression and generational rivalry of father-son relations and, finally, the development of romantic, erotic passion for a woman...Detailed reinterpretations of the Oedipus myth, with a special focus on King Laius, the father of Oedipus, and of the
classic case of Little Hans, provide illustrations of Ross's arguments. These reanalyses are supplemented with case studies from his research/clinical experiences. The discussion of Freud's reluctance to confront adult sexuality and passionate love is especially interesting, and the conclusion that womb envy is no less a factor in the inner life of men than penis is in the psychology of women is certain to stir thought in any reader.
For the past 30 years or so, experts, activists, and talk show hosts have been thoroughly absorbed with what women want, what women don't have, and what society has done to women. The 'dominant sex,' meanwhile, has been relatively ignored in scholarly tomes and readily abused in political and pop-psych rhetoric...[This book seeks] to bring men back into the picture, and, just as astonishing, [does] so with sympathy...Many of [the author's] conclusions are not new at all, but really pieces of old wisdom, long buried under layers of errant nonsense, ideological excess, and not-so-benign neglect...Munder Ross...[makes an] important contribution to the contemporary debate.
Over the past two decades Ross has become an important contributor to the ongoing psychoanalytic dialogues on male development and adaptation throughout the life cycle...Ross draws freely on classical viewpoints, ego psychology, cognitive developmental processes (with particular reference to Piaget), and object relations theories. Unlike many psychoanalytic theorists, however, while exploring the world of inner objects and affects he does not lose sight of the shaping influence of external realities...Feminist critiques have emphasized the phallocentric bias of Freud's theorizing. Despite this bias, Freud and his followers left much of the territory of male development unexplored. Ross helps illuminate some of the neglected areas. He synthesizes the work of others and offers his own original research and reformulations of aspects of masculinity and paternity.
What Men Want: Mothers, Fathers, and Manhood makes a significant contribution to the dialogue on male desire and developmental needs over the course of the life cycle.
