Men’s lack of deep, close friendships has been in the spotlight lately. A recent Pew Research Center study found that 54% of women say they turn to a friend for emotional support, but only 38% of men say they do. Essayist Sam Graham-Felsen and American Institute for Boys and Men CEO Richard Reeves join John Yang to discuss why some men seem to struggle with maintaining social connections.
In my opinion, guy friendships need to be doing something together. We don’t call each other up out of a blue and talk to each other about deep things. We don’t share our emotions other than on a high level or in extreme cases.
The good friends I have. I always do stuff with. I have one really good friend who I always hike with every weekend. I have another good friend group that plays video games together most nights. If you remove those people from my life, I don’t have a single male friend left that I talk with more than once a year.
I always figured that’s why watching and playing sports was so important to guys. It’s the glue that holds male friendships together. (Or in my case, playing online video games)