UK Magazine Says 'Bromances' Often Include Kissing, Cuddling

There’s a big difference between a “bromance” and a “romance” in the grand scheme of things. After all, “bromance” refers to an incredibly close friendship between men, but romance isn’t really part of it. It’s just a joking term.

However, a UK magazine for gay men, Attitude, reported some head-scratching comments about a so-called study on so-called bromances. They quoted researcher Adam White:

Participants suggested, for example, that a bromantic friend was “someone who is literally there for you all the time” and “will always be there to back you up if you need it.”

…

A bromance is between friends whose mutual support is perceived as limitless and unwavering. All of the participants said they had at least one relationship they would class as a bromance.

Wait for it …

[A]ll but one of the men asked said that they regularly engaged in “non-sexual physical intimacy,” such as kissing, cuddling, and spooning with their best friend.

Though Attitude failed to provide a link to the study, this abstract of the study fails to mention kissing or cuddling. However, it does list this work as a reference, which explicitly does.

As everyone knows even without a study, this claim is bonkers.

Both the study and the one it references appear to have been conducted by write-in surveys. This leads to all kinds of issues, such as questions that could be misconstrued by participants, or survey participants choosing to just mess with the researchers. After all, the odds that the UK has more practicing Jedis than Jews is pretty low, yet a study contained that result.

There are cultures that have no qualms about two straight men kissing, to some extent. But British and American cultures do. Men who regularly kiss and cuddle are not in bromances, but romances.

Straight men are far more likely to end friendships if one of the friends wants to participate in such activities. It’s not normal behavior, or even rare behavior, among straight men — and I’m baffled how “researchers” supposedly familiar with Western society didn’t see those results and immediately grasp that the survey was worthless.