Could gay guys be the ultimate wg men for their straight, male iends?
Contents:
- GAY MEN AND STRAIGHT MEN AS FRIENDS
- HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY
- WHY STRAIGHT WOMEN AND GAY MEN MAKE THE BT OF FRIENDS
- WHAT HAPPENS TO GAY FRIENDSHIPS WHEN YOU GO MONOGAMO?
- CAN GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN REALLY BE FRIENDS?
- HOW TO MAKE GAY FRIENDS
- WHAT THE WORLD CAN LEARN FROM GAY-STRAIGHT FRIENDSHIPS
GAY MEN AND STRAIGHT MEN AS FRIENDS
* gay male friendships *
For a long time, iendships between gay men and straight men – what some now ll “bromosexual” iendships – were unmon. Homophobia was likely one reason; another was that straight men probably assumed they didn’t have much mon wh gay men. Specifilly, we’re terted lookg at the reasons gay men and straight men bee iends (or rema iends after the gay iend out).
We currently have a survey vtigatn unrway that explor some of the posive out of “bromosexual” iendships, cludg our theory that gay men and straight men n be optimal wg men for one another. Many straight men hated to beiend gay men, fearg harassment, rejectn om their straight iends or beg lled gay.
Gay men – particularly those nservative and ral environments – rema wary about tryg to beiend straight men, fearg prejudice-fueled rejectn. At the same time, many straight men still doubt that they’ll be able to relate to gay men any meangful way and, for this reason, may not try to iate a iendship.
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY
Heterosexual and gay men n heal and grow as a rult of their iendships. * gay male friendships *
Of urse, the tradnal notn that gay men and straight men nnot be close iends is herently homophobic and unte. We propose gay-straight male iendships are not only possible, but that they n grow to be extremely rewardg.
If they’re open-md about beiendg gay men and make the effort to try to fe iendships based upon mon terts, gay men should feel more fortable reciprotg. Gay men who disclose their sexual orientatn to their straight male iends earlier life may be able to build more open and hont iendships wh them to adulthood.
Send, recent rearch has argued that genr and sexual orientatn might not be as black and whe as prevly thought, which opens up new avenu for explorg how gay and straight men n relate to one another.
WHY STRAIGHT WOMEN AND GAY MEN MAKE THE BT OF FRIENDS
For a long time, iendships between gay men and straight men – what some now ll “bromosexual” iendships – were unmon. But, that's changg. * gay male friendships *
If a straight guy and his gay male iend are ls rigid about their masculy and sexualy, they’ll probably be more likely to discs tails about their sexual and romantic liv openly wh one another. Recent rearch has suggted that advice sharg uld be a ccial reason that straight women seek out gay men as iends. In short, women are able to tst the datg advice om gay male iends bee they know their gay iends don’t have any ulterr motiv: They’re not tryg to hook up wh them or pete wh them for guys.
We believe that this same sort of unbiased advice sharg might also foster iendships between gay and straight men. Bee of the tst they engenr om straight women, gay men are uniquely posned to be excellent “wg men” for sgle straight men. However, straight women do tend to tst the datg advice of gay men (pecially more than advice om straight men or women).
WHAT HAPPENS TO GAY FRIENDSHIPS WHEN YOU GO MONOGAMO?
There are lots of reasons why you might want to know if your iend is gay. There are some important thgs that you have to unrstand about this suatn before gog forward, however. Someone's sexualy is highly plex and highly... * gay male friendships *
Jt as a gay man might be able to pass on advice about women to his straight iend, a straight man uld nnect his gay male iend wh another sirable gay man, sce neher the gay man nor his straight iend are petg for the same person. We believe that havg a tstworthy nfidant to help wh romantic pursus is one of the major reasons straight and gay men are leavg the fort of their same-sex, same-orientatn iend groups to form “bromosexual” iendships. The bonds between gay men and straight women have been wrten about and featured popular media (i.
Sex the Cy, Will and Grace), though a lot ls has been said about how gay and straight men regnize and negotiate the distct challeng, plitns, and rewards of their iendships.
Acrdg to Garfield, among the many obstacl to male-male platonic timacy, fear of homosexualy looms large.
CAN GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN REALLY BE FRIENDS?
Consir the turng pot of gay relatnships, platonic or otherwise. * gay male friendships *
Straight men et that if they get too close, others will see them as gay; which their mds means feme (horrors! S., before there was such a thg as a gay inty, some straight men would, wh ltle shame, engage sexual ntact wh other men (ually allowg themselv to be fellated) when female partners were otherwise unavailable (see Gee Chncey’s semal book, Gay New York: Genr, Urban Culture, and the Makg of the Gay Male World 1890-1940) and there is good reason to believe this still occurs other untri and cultur.
The mid 20th century this behavr beme associated wh gay inty, new at the time and seen as crimal and then sick. As a rult of this behavr-inty lk, sexual ngrs between gay and straight men creased nsirably, or at least went unrground.
HOW TO MAKE GAY FRIENDS
New rearch explor the benefs of iendship between gay and straight men. * gay male friendships *
Gay men have suffered physil, social, and psychologil abe at the hands of heterosexually intified mal who, thanks to homophobia and heterosexism, felt fully jtified flictg the terrors. This legacy of vlence, both physil and psychologil, flicted by straight men toward those of who are gay naturally fuels our utn and distst at the thought of beiendg them. As turns out, the gay iend worried that if he hugged too closely his iend would thk he was g on to him.
For the straight guy, iendship wh a gay man offers the opportuny to learn important lsons about masculy, male inty, sexual orientatn, and diversy. As the quote go: You n never have too many iends—and iendships between gay and straight guys n be healg and uniquely satisfyg for all volved.
The study also showed that some of the barriers to male iendships are g down, cludg the assumptn that two men dog anythg together mt be gay, and the fadg stereotype of what mak a real man. But close male pannship beme more taboo the send half of the 20th century, say rearchers om the Universy of Wchter England, due to a rise homophobic sentiments and changg ials of what masculy should look like. The group was homogeno, to be sure; bis all beg straight llege stunts, all but one of the men were whe, and all had a sports-related major.
WHAT THE WORLD CAN LEARN FROM GAY-STRAIGHT FRIENDSHIPS
Every time you attend a Pri March, ftival or cent Gay Club Night, you may have noticed jt how many fellow queers live your cy. The qutn is how to fd them outsi of the special events? Follow the steps to extend your... * gay male friendships *
You may want to know if your iend is gay, but there may be a good reason why they're stayg closeted. For example, his fay may be vlently homophobic and by cidg that he's gay, you may out him by accint by treatg him different or implyg somethg whout meang to.