CONNECTION: The Modern Man

A new study published in the journal Men and Masculinities says that young heterosexual men get more emotional satisfaction and fulfillment from their close friendships with other men than they get from relationships with girlfriends. As society’s taboo on close male friendships begins to lift, men are enjoying more open and supportive relationships with their peers. This kind of friendship is what we call a ‘bromance’ - the kind of friendship where usual man-to-man boundaries don’t exist, and men feel free to share secrets and openly appreciate each other. The study surveyed second year college students and found that participants felt less judged by male friends than by girlfriends, and less pressure to be conventionally ‘manly’.