Professor Peter Nardi's "research" at Pitzer College sounds like it could have been written by The Stag Hen, Claremont's Opinion knockoff. But it isn't. He's actually one of the world's experts on bro-mance. Seriously. Here's the link from The New York Times. The article is from 2005, but I recently came across it and thought you'd enjoy it.
While some men explicitly seek man dates, and others flatly reject them asWhoa. It is too easy to mock this.
pointless, most seem to view them as an unavoidable form of socializing in an
age when friends can often catch up only by planning in advance. The ritual
comes particularly into play for many men after college, as they adjust to a
more structured, less spontaneous social life. “You see kids in college talking
to each other, bull sessions,” said Peter Nardi, a sociology
professor at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., who edited a book called
“Men’s Friendships.” “But the opportunities to get close to another man, to
share and talk about their feelings, are not available after a certain age.”
Update: A reader from another generation emailed this comment.
"Re: Man Date: What do you expect from a generation that had to have play dates, engages in solitary shooter games, and walks around with ear buds. It's a wonder that they have friends or even get laid."
1 comments:
Someone sent me your link and I want to correct some errors, especially since you brag about not giving "half-truths." First of all, I am not "one of the world's experts on bro-mance [sic]" -- in fact, I've never written or researched it. However, I have edited a book on men's friendships and written a book on gay men's friendships for the University of Chicago Press, a highly respected publisher. Second, to use quotes from the media as indicators of someone's "research" (as you snidely put in quotes) is, to say the least, a poor indicator of your own "research" into the topic. Finally, you seem to feel that one of the quotes is "too easy to mock" yet you don't really say what you would mock. If you read the psychology and sociology literature on friendship, you will read that elderly men have a very difficult time meeting friends, getting close to them and talking about their lives. There are many reasons for this, but I'll let you and your readers do some serious research, rather than depend on the superficial summary you provide. Please don't use "half-truths" in your own blog.
PS: you might also want to correct the phrase on the comment page: "We will delete any post that do not add to the conversation" to read "that does not add" or change "post" to "posts" for grammatical accuracy.
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