Male Bonding2
For those who like to explore the concept and dynamics of male bonding. Men are socialized in different ways in different societies, and so many men would like to have close male friendships, yet after spending time establishing a career, primary relationship and live in general, find themselves without close male friends. Many of us want male friends with whom we can share openly without...
- created by AZdesertman
What is Male Bonding?
Return to DiscussionsI recently had a nudist buddy from another country/culture ask me what male bonding was. I had to think a minute about how to express that. My response to him was:
Well bonding is a 'coming together'. Most men think of male bonding as breaking through the defenses and barriers that we build around ourselves and really becoming close friends with other males. I'm sure thatmale culture in Europe and other areas of the world is different than American. My perception is that Europeans are much more open, less homophobic. American men are socialized to not show vulnerability or weakness, to not be close friends with other males (though gay men are obviously different in that). But here, straight men often yearn to have close male friendships but have a lot of issues to overcome to build those close friendships.
So I thought that was interesting and would make for a good discussion topic here. What do you think MALE BONDING is? And how does it differ in various cultures around the globe?
C"mon everyone....share your thoughts!
Thank you, guys, for resurrecting this conversation. Even if we don't necessarily all agree on what male bonding is, that's fine. It will be different things to different men. But I think there is bonding value in even "talking" about it, sharing and provoking thought with each other. There have been some great points made, and some beautiful examples of male bonding and friendship shared. Let's keep it going!!