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Bromance


A bromance is a close, emotionally intense, non-sexual bond between two men. It is an exceptionally tight affectional, homosocial male bonding relationship exceeding that of usual friendship, and is distinguished by a particularly high level of emotional intimacy. The emergence of the concept since the beginning of the 21st century has been seen as reflecting a change in societal perception and interest in the theme, with an increasing openness of society in the twenty-first century to reconsider gender, sexuality, and exclusivity constraints.

Bromance is a portmanteau of bro or brother and romance. Dave Carnie is credited with coining the term as editor of the skateboard magazine Big Brother in the 1990s to refer specifically to the sort of relationships that develop between skaters who spent a great deal of time together. The term did not attain broad currency until approximately 2005 when the theme became more prominent in the motion picture industry.

Numerous examples exist of intense homosocial friendships throughout history, between men and also between women; such relationships were common. Romantic friendship, a historical construct with a different homoerotic connotation and social construction, is discussed within that article.

Bromance has been examined from viewpoints such as historiography, discourse analysis, social research, and queer theory in book-length reviews. The emergence of bromance over the past decade has been seen as reflecting how society has collectively changed its perception and interest in the theme.

Several characteristics of bromance have been cited. Bromance conveys a male homosocial relationship that goes much further than traditional homosocial practices. The increased closeness goes beyond being mere friends, to a deep bond that has been characterized as capturing the conceptual edge of "is gay/is not gay". Its emergence as a distinctive conceptual genre and theme in the movie and television industry is seen as reflective of a "broader acceptance of nonheteronormative cultural expressions as well as the prospect of a same-sex intimacy that transcends matters of sexual orientation". Contemporary cultural circumstances, including the struggle for and attainment of gay marriage equality, and specific elements of the depiction of bromance in movies and television separate it from buddy films, as well as historic romantic friendships, which reflect a different social construction.


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