<p>[Why</a> Men’s Friendships Are Different - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052702304620304575166090090482912.html]Why”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052702304620304575166090090482912.html) </p>
<p>Does this match your experience?</p>
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<p>Of course 
just take a look at the “Dressing Young” thread which just keeps on going… :)</p>
<p>I agree with the premise. I have no doubt that men relate to each other differently than women. That almost seems to be a minor issue. The bigger issue is the way we relate between the sexes. Now that we have a common hobby (photography), my wife and I have been spending much more time together. She complains that I do “parallel play” and I am not relating to her. I become engrossed in the hobby and wander off in different directions taking pictures. She expects that we will somehow do photography “TOGETHER” and be more connected. I am not able to even imagine how that is supposed to work. Talking and taking pictures don’t seem to fit for me.</p>
<p>I think it is all related to coming from Mars or Venus.</p>
<p>The men & women I know do have different friendships. I have a few friends whom we’ve kept in touch with for 4 decades & H does as well. Whatever friendships people have, it’s important for them to make time for them & cultivate them, for mental health & “social connectedness.” Many of my best “friends” happen to be family members & in-laws.</p>
<p>Friendships I have with men are also interesting, as are hubby’s friendships with women.</p>
<p>This article seems full of stereotypes to me. Personally, I like “parallel play” (I am female). I also like the full-on, face-to-face talk with my girlfriends but we talk about everything – art, philosophy, science, politics, as well as our mothers (a perennial) and families and significant others. I have those kinds of talks with male friends too but it tends to be a little lighter and not so personal. I think most men have their intimate conversations with their wives or girlfriends only. (I wonder about gay men though. They seem to be more comfortable with emotional content in general than straight men, or am I stereotyping?) I do really enjoy the casual banter and teasing between men. Sometimes women friends are too serious! And way too sensitive.</p>
<p>Hahaha…</p>
<p>google: harvard “boys will be girls”</p>
<p>…very funny and very accurate</p>
<p>toblin - That was fabulous. Made my morning.</p>
<p>“I think most men have their intimate conversations with their wives or girlfriends only.”</p>
<p>I would agree, but those tend to be pretty one sided interactions where men try to be interested and sensitive.</p>
<p>*Researchers say women’s friendships are face to face: They talk, cry together, share secrets. </p>
<p>Men’s friendships are side by side: We play golf. We go to football games. *</p>
<p>LOL…my H golfs with a co-worker who is part of their foursome. My H just learned (after many years) that the guy is single - never married, no kids. My H just assumed that he was married and had kids. The fact that my H didn’t know these things speaks loudly about what they talk about (or don’t talk about) at the 19th hole. </p>
<p>Within a short-time of making a new friend, women will often know if the person is married/in a relationship, has children, what they do for a living, what their hobbies are, what their food allergies are… LOL</p>
<p>I don’t know. Back in the day, in addition to all the casual banter and good-natured teasing and discussions of sports and movies and girls, my male friends and I, at least one-on-one, talked about emotional issues and “feelings” all the time, and they confided in me about all sorts of innermost secrets. Not that any of them knew back then about my own innermost secret, but perhaps they sensed that I was more interested in that sort of conversation than their other friends, and <em>wouldn’t</em> make fun of them if they talked about their feelings and vulnerabilities. Who knows?</p>
<p>It wouldn’t surprise me if some of them, knowing what they do now about me, feel some retrospective embarrassment, or confusion, about how close we were once upon a time. Especially the ones who were straight. Perhaps that’s why I’ve lost almost all of them.</p>