'Being aware of the juxtaposition of power and vulnerability in the lives of the men closet to me, the stereotypes of masculinity that I have read in so many books have always left me unimpressed. In my experience as in the experience of so many others, it has simply not been true that it is always men who are strong, logical and self-sufficient; or that women are weaker, more emotional and in greater need of protection. Indeed as I have gone through life I have met many men who are very emotionally dependent on others whilst many women I know are temperamentally strong as well as analytically competent. I have listened as publically adequate men have privately crumbled without affirmation and constant support, yet have encountered women who battle alone against considerable odds.'
Elaine Storkey, The Search for Intimacy, p.118.
