Creating 'masculine' spaces for 'feminine' emotions - men and social inclusion.

This chapter compares two different initiatives to tackle the social exclusion of the elderly in rural and urban areas in Northern Ireland, and highlights the importance of work as part of older men's identity after retirement. The chapter demonstrates how men are often more vulnerable to loneliness when they lose work and how difficult it is for initiatives to involve men if there is no room for a post-work masculine space that allows men to reconfirm their masculine identity, for instance through do-it-yourself, wood carving and metal work.