For many men as they get older life becomes about the wife, the family, the lover. What gets lost is the kind of male friendship that one had in high school.
Convention or expectation, that men “refrain from expressing affection” (Biddulph, 1994) to other men, even when they feel it, out of conformity to socio cultural prescriptions for normative male-male behavior. But men take this action as being very feminine so men avoid expressing affection to other men to avoid appearing feminine.
Men show intimacy in their friendships differently than women do. Men are more assertive in their communications. Their means of communication within their friendships involve direct demands or orders and Men are likely to interrupt, threaten, heckle and name-call towards same sex friends.
Instead of sitting down and sharing intimate conversations, Men express themselves intimately through shared activities such as playing basketball or football. Men occasionally discuss topics such as their feelings and self-disclosure but this occurs more when participating in an activity rather than just talking.
Men are more likely to tease or joke with friends about personal matters. Men concentrate on establishing their individuality. It is more important to be themselves rather than to fit into a social crowd. Men tend to play and talk to one another when in large groups or crowds. Because they are less intimate, it is not as important as it is to women to have a best friend or a small group of close friends. Within the group is where turf protection occurs and men can obtain status from peers. This is where and how men gain intimacy within their friendships.
“Maintaining a friendship is very hard between both the sexes, but maybe more so for the men. As men get older, get married they drift a little apart from....
