I was watching TV at home over Thanksgiving Break, and I saw MTV had a show were average Joes compete to become friends with some of the guys from the Hills called Bromance. I thought to myself, “Bromance? That’s really homoerotic… For absolutely no reason at all.” The term bromance has caught fire and now any close guy relationship is a bromance, and it makes one wonder: what the fuck happened to just being friends? I have no problem with homosexuals at all, but I don’t want to get bromantically involved with someone. What happens if one of us gets a girlfriend? Are we cheating on the other “bro”? Are bromance break ups just as rough as real break ups? So many men have problems being faithful to women, can we really trust men to be faithful to men? Can you have a one night stand with a bro? Like, you meet a guy at the mall. He is really cool so you invite him to a baseball game, and then after you drop him off at home after the game you never talk to him again. Would that bro feel used? I think I am going to stay away from bromance… I don’t know if I can handle the heartbreak.
xoxo
-vˆ2
Why is it “gay” or “homoerotic” when guys do it, but when girls are just really close friends, there is nothing weird at all about it? In fact, we call our female comrades our “girlfriends.” Don’t get me wrong- I love my girlfriends, and yes, sometimes we do use vocabulary like “cheating” or “breaking up” to describe events that happen over the course of a relationship between girlfriends. I’m just wondering why guys get to fantasize about best friends hitting each other with fluffy pillows and we don’t. Maybe the girls WANT to watch a little bromance and see you guys talk about cheating on and breaking up with each other for a while. I’m just saying…
The gender differences we’re talking about here are by no means insignificant. Very smart people put a lot of time into studying these kinds of questions. There’s a lot of biology at stake here; it’s not just a matter of social conditioning. An easy point of reference is to look at the difference between mothers and fathers. While both parents are capable of a range of roles, the typical assignments are that the mother nurtures and protects while the father strengthens. Friendships seem to follow these innate templates. Male friendships mirror father/son relationships and female friendships mirror mother/daughter relationships.
Also, I find this “Bromance” show pretty suspect. I don’t think men–even men from The Hills–are nearly catty enough to make this entertaining.
For true bromance entertainment, watch “Rob and Big”. That, to me, illustrates the epitome of male friendships.
i had to give up on this show after a few minutes, it’s so awkward