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On April 28, 2005, Dr. Janice S. Lieberman presented an enlightening discourse on the concept of masculinity in the 21st century. As a training and supervising analyst and faculty member at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR) in New York with special interests in gender issues, body image concerns, the analysis of single women over 30, and the relationship between psychoanalysis and contemporary art, Dr. Lieberman has written and presented numerous papers and book reviews, authored the book Body Talk: Looking and Being Looked at in Psychotherapy , and coauthored the book The Many Faces of Deceit: Omissions, Lies and Disguise in Psychotherapy . In her paper Lieberman revisited male psychology and concluded that little has been written about what it is like to be a man in a man's body and that there are many kinds of “masculinity.” This contradicts society's assumption that men manifest a limited range of male characteristics: dominant, in charge, and rational. Lieberman stressed the need to recognize that some men re not suited for the traditional role of the “strong” primary breadwinner.
Lieberman noted that the role of the father, which encompasses the concept of one's own father, as well as the idea of oneself as a potential father, affects a man's sense of his own masculinity. More specifically, the “massive collapse of the function of father/father figure,” Lieberman cited Verhaeghe, may influence a developing boy's ideas regarding gender roles, as well as his ability to internalize the relationship of his mother and father. To best illustrate her concepts, Lieberman presented three cases of men who externally appeared stereotypically male (i.e., each