‘Barbie’: Ken Has Never Been Barbie’s Boyiend. He’s Her Gay BFF.

Contents:

• IS BROMANCE GAY?
• YOU’RE NOT GAY. YOU’RE A BROMANCE.
• FEATURED ROMANCE STORI
• KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND
• BROMANC AND GAY MEN
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS KEV MAXEN BE FIRST PROFSNAL MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• BROMANCE, ANOTHER WAY OF SAYG CLOSETED GAY?
• THAT’S SO GAY: THE BROMANCE

IS BROMANCE GAY?

Their homosocial bondg exceeds ual male iendships and, some circumstanc, match or surpass heterosexual romance. Diamond noted that passnate iendships among men are nsired un-mascule and culturally problematic bee “highly timate and affectnate same-genr iendships are more likely to engenr spicn of homosexualy when they occur between men than when they occur between women. ” Whereas women n be passnate wh each other and stay straight, if men are passnate wh each other, they are tagged gay.

Bromance might have been vented as a ver, an acceptable cultural script manufactured to let men be emotnally vulnerable wh each other while beg protected om the stigma of gayns.

Toby once told me that he nsired himself straight, then a year later – when he was seeg a guy – he told me he thought he was gay. Once, Steve ma the mistake of suggtg they try somethg together and Pl got angry and rmed Steve that he’s not gay and stormed off.

YOU’RE NOT GAY. YOU’RE A BROMANCE.

If you are that gay guy that’s tryg to work out if his straight mate is bisexual or cur, he isn’t. If however you see a guy make homophobic ments or is unfortable around guys, bromanc etc… then there’s a higher chance that he’s a closet se wag to bt a move.

FEATURED ROMANCE STORI

It’s funny that back before sexual intifitn beme a hot potato, people didn’t publicly ask ‘is bromance gay or not’.

Perhaps there’s somethg to be said for the good old black and whe days where people whispered their spicns but would never e right out and ask, is bromance gay? Dpe what may seem like “gay” behavr for straight men, Braff and Faison aren’t phased by their homosocial antics. Instead, their bromance appears to be the face of a ep, close, and rewardg, rearchers are lookg to this ia of “bromance, ” and are png as a sign of our changg society and views on homosexualy.

” Usg the term homosocial — or havg a same-sex relatnship that is not sexual or romantic — the thors expla that their study is “evince of an expansn of changg nceptns of masculy ntemporary culture.

KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND

”As ntemporary culture embrac the ia of homosexualy — and as straight mal bee more tune wh femism — they may be takg on more of the so-lled “soft” featur, playg out a new role where showg affectn to both women or men (regardls of sexual orientatn) isn’t that much of a Jam Fran is dog :.

“The social taboo agast cuddlg has been bee for two men to get close was tradnally seen as ‘gay, ’” McCormack told HuffPost. “Men wanted to avoid beg the target of homophobic abe, so they would be macho to distance themselv om any perceptn of homosexualy.

BROMANC AND GAY MEN

But there is a generatnal effect here: Olr men who grew up the 1980s may still feel the need to prent a very straight versn of themselv, but more posive attus toward homosexualy ntemporary culture mean that younger men are simply ls ncerned about how other people view their behavrs.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS KEV MAXEN BE FIRST PROFSNAL MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Openly gay New Zealand Olympic rower Robbie Manson (left) wh his brother Karl, also a rower. It was ol to be brothers arms (arms around each other) word ‘bromance’ was ed by sk8er dus the 1990s to scribe a non-gay relatnship wh strong bonds.

Spock’s and Kirk’s reappearance will renew tert men’s Nardi, a soclogist at Pzer College, says phras such as ‘bromance’ make easier for male iendships bee they remove the perceptn of gayns. They know they are is the basis for the bromance: the knowledge that you and your bt iend will never stray to gay benefs of havg a bromance outweigh the are subjects a man won’t brg up wh his bt iend-girl.

BROMANCE, ANOTHER WAY OF SAYG CLOSETED GAY?

Symbolizg the g gay revolutn, Reggie asks his widowed grandmother to take Pete as a lodger; that's when the subversive trappgs of the biker subculture--all that badass leather--clash wh the tasteful tradn and old-lady r.

It followed several "problem pictur" featurg gay characters (Victim, The L-Shaped Room, The Children's Hour), yet director Furie and screenwrer Gillian Freeman--who based the film on Freeman's novel--nonted the social problem a way that now n be seen as advantageo to the culture's gradual sexual 's maral disrd wh his wife, Dot, bolsters Reggie and Pete's homosocial bromance. " Here's where The Leather Boys tri unifyg gay-straight a brief renciliatn between Reggie and Dot: They slow-dance to a jebox versn of what sounds like "What Kd of Fool Am I?, " a 1962 h for showbiz in and gay-favore Anthony Newley.

This suatn rells the genue empathy of an unenlightened era (as when Brick protects Skipper's memory Cat on a Hot T Roof) Pete's secret life as a habue at a docksi gay bar is unvered (Reggie is treated like ndy there), we nnot help but feel for him as Reggie walks away, their iendship seemgly over.

THAT’S SO GAY: THE BROMANCE

"But spe Reggie's reactn, The Leather Boys still manag to show how the mon humany of gay and straight men--the sence of bromance--n be greater than sex. Classilly, homosocial relatnships fill the social gap left by not engagg sexual relatnships, and as a rult they tend to peter out at the time of marriage.

However, the strong bonds formed homosocial relatnships do endure, wh the partners a homosocial relatnship spendg time wh each other's new fai, helpg each other out when need, and sometim enterg to bs partnerships wh each other.

In regns where the stigma agast homosexualy is strong, men a bromance may fd themselv the subjects of mockery and risn, and they may be told to prove their manhood if they want to stay their social circl.