18 thoughts on “The art of male friendships ”

  1. roughseasinthemed says:
    November 25, 2016 at 12:28

    I take it they are all American photos. It would be interesting to see similar examples from different cultures eg Australia, Europe, Asia, Africa.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. john zande says:
    November 25, 2016 at 17:16

    Is he entirely sure a few of those aren’t gay pics? .

    Like

    Reply
  3. NeuroNotes says:
    November 25, 2016 at 17:55

    I agree with the author. I’ve shared this before, but I think it’s relevant to your post. Forensic psychologist, Karen Franklin, did extensive research on the root causes of violence and hatred towards homosexuality. She writes:

    “[…heterosexism is not just a personal value system, it is a tool in the maintenance of gender dichotomy. In other words, through heterosexism, any male who refuses to accept the dominant culture’s assignment of appropriate masculine behavior is labeled early on as a “sissy” or “fag” and then subjected to bullying. Similarly, any woman who opposes male dominance and control can be labeled a lesbian and attacked.

    The potential of being ostracized as homosexual, regardless of actual sexual attractions and behaviors, puts pressure on all people to conform to a narrow standard of appropriate gender behavior, thereby maintaining and reinforcing our society’s hierarchical gender structure.”

    In his post, The Selling of Masculinity, Harris O’Malley shows how heterosexism is massively marketed in advertising. Under the subtitle of “Marketing and the Gender Police”, he writes:

    “Genderads – where I’ve found most of the examples I’ve used in this article – is a repository of hypermasculine imagery in advertising… and it’s genuinely disturbing to visit. It drives home just how often we’re sold on the idealization of these masculine stereotypes.

    When the imagery becomes as prevalent as it has, it almost becomes subliminal; we know it’s there and what it’s saying but we don’t consciously perceive it. It has become the background noise of our day to day lives that we absorb it passively, without thinking about the context or what messages it sends.”

    When I checked out the Genderads website, linked on his post, which shows over 4,000 ads, I was taken aback. O’Malley further states:

    “The constant underlying subtext is that if you don’t meet the implied definition of manliness, you’re a fag; you have given up your identity as a (dominant) male to take on the subservient, female role. In this ideology, being gay is almost worse than being a woman, since it’s a man choosing to be penetrated – and thus, dominated – rather than the one in charge.

    To not be in absolute control is to be lesser. Anything with a whiff of femininity – including the expression of any emotions (besides anger or stony indifference that is), caring about one’s appearance or even drinking the wrong beverages – is to be violently repressed.”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  4. NeuroNotes says:
    November 25, 2016 at 17:57

    The link in my comment didn’t work. I’ll try again:

    The Selling of Masculinity

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Ron says:
    November 26, 2016 at 20:14

    I submit that some of those photos look weird because the subjects were awkwardly posed.

    Like

    Reply
  6. shelldigger says:
    November 27, 2016 at 01:14

    Mak, you want to have some pictures taken? 😉

    Like

    Reply
  7. Real real me says:
    December 8, 2016 at 15:48

    I think many of these photos would be labeled by today’s society as “gay”.

    Like

    Reply

We sure would love to hear your comments, compliments and thoughts.