Apparently 'bromances' are bad for women
A new study on “bromances” suggests that the intimate male relationship model could potentially become a widely accepted domestic arrangement with negative impacts on women.
After interviewing 30 undergraduate males, Adam White, from the University of Bedfordshire, says the term “bromance” has positively redefined relationships between men providing “elevated emotional stability, enhanced emotional disclosure, social fulfilment and better conflict resolution, compared to the emotional lives they shared with girlfriends.”
While the popularity of bromances in movies and television has helped rid male relationships of homophobic stigma, the new study says it could be a great disadvantage to women. Research found the emotional benefits and freedom men find from their friendships with other men leaves women to fulfill sexual needs — and nothing else.
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When asked about women, study subjects admitted they feel constantly judged, and are under pressure to maintain their relationship, to “achieve heterosexual sex.”
“What happens in 50 years, say, if these bromantic relationships really take off and men decide, ‘Hang on, we really enjoy these. These are much better. We can gain more emotionality from it. We’re less regulated, we’re less policed,’” White wonders. “And therefore women actually just become the sexual fulfillers of men and nothing else. That’s the worrying aspect.”
“It’s like having a girlfriend, but then not a girlfriend,” one subject revealed.
“We are basically like a couple,” another said of his male friend. “We get called like husband and wife all the time.”
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The study, published in the journal Men and Masculinities, maintains that the bromance is symbolic of the evolution of masculinity, and closely linked to the decrease in homophobia.
“People no longer care about being thought gay, and therefore they can behave in a number of different ways,” says White. “All sorts of things are now open up for men without them being thought to be a ’sissy’ or a ‘fag’ because nobody cares.”
While it’s unclear whether these findings could be simply related to age or the link to modern online dating practices, the study suggests the bromance centers around emotional intimacy and fulfillment. White concluded, “Beyond the need for sex, we found that for this cohort of men, bromances performed a very similar, and often superior function to romances.”
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