Men's Friendships: Performances of Masculinity

Abstract

A man's friendship is more than simply a product of being a man. It is a performance of masculinity that is influenced by gendered expectations. Using structural equation modeling to analyze 98 men's friendships, this study shows how two masculine expectations: one behavioral (stoic), the other attitudinal (anti-feminine) influence different forms of intimacy between friends (instrumental, expressive). Analyzing the relationship between these variables across two occupations, one male-traditional (military) and the other female-traditional (teacher), further display how friendship is part of a masculine performance, as the relationship between masculine expectations and interactions with friends are stronger for teachers than military personnel because teachers are counteracting their feminine performance as a result of their jobs. Overall, “doing friendship” is “doing gender.”