I interviewed my guy friend who is older than me and has a best friend for 6 years. He was hesitating a bit to answer the questions but after a moment, he answered with a short solid answers, truthfully.
The first question was why he’s closed to his best friend. He shared that they share interests in sports, games and also, in faith in God. That’s why he met him in a youth group on his church and they served together. In “No Man is an Island: Men in Relationships” by Kilmartin, it emphasizes that there’s a male-male competition and which illustrates the masculine norms that don’t foster egalitarian relationships among boys. Also, that they should be independent and self-sufficient, and they should not need others. However, that contradicts their friendship. When my guy friend need help, his friend is there not always but when they’re together I can see their closeness. They got their closeness because they’re open to each other and they’re not scared to show their real emotions. At first, he said it was too hard but the youth group helped them to connect and became more closer. There are no such thing called competition in their friendship because for them friendship is there to support each other and have someone who is liable.
That brings me to the second question about how he appreciates his friend, he said, that he never fails to say that how his friend means to him and ‘that friend’ supported and helped him when he’s at his lowest. He cares genuinely without asking something in return. And that proves the Kaplan & Rosemann, 2014. Additionally, their friendship has the three relationship basics: the emotional or social support, emotional intimacy and status. That shows, even it’s awkward to show concern because guys don’t do stuffs like this, but as time passed by they grew as a gentlemen. Their friendship became comfortable with the idea of honouring each other.
Lovers and Fighters | Section 22 