Although it can be a bit of a let down when you, let's say, order a coffee in your host country's language and the barista continues the conversation in English, keep trying! The locals of the country appreciate your effort. While staying in Luxembourg, I've tried using my very basic Duolingo French skills. You don't know how beneficial learning a different language from your native one is until you study abroad. Reach out to people that you think would be fun to travel with and talk about the things you'd like to focus on throughout the program during the first few weeks to find people with similar goals!
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The friendships that you make while studying abroad are unique, as this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and the people that you meet along the way are definitely an of that. Reaching out to people in your program and around you as well as your housemates is the foundation for being confident when reaching out to strangers in places you visit, from hostel bars to cooking classes. I became more connected with my roommate, one of the people I knew before the program after living with her and traveling with her every weekend. But as time went on, I met so many incredible people with different personalities, cultures, and interests. I only knew two people going into the program out of about one hundred and twenty people.
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But there is a generational effect here: Older men who grew up in the 1980s may still feel the need to present a very straight version of themselves, but more positive attitudes toward homosexuality in contemporary culture mean that younger men are simply less concerned about how other people view their behaviors.Going into the semester, I was nervous about making new friends in my study abroad program. “Men wanted to avoid being the target of homophobic abuse, so they would be macho to distance themselves from any perception of homosexuality. “The social taboo against cuddling has been because for two men to get close was traditionally seen as ‘gay,’” McCormack told HuffPost. We have a bromance where we are very comfortable around each other.”Īs contemporary culture embraces the idea of homosexuality - and as straight males become more in tune with feminism - they may be taking on more of these so-called “soft” features, playing out a new role where showing affection to both women or men (regardless of sexual orientation) isn’t that much of a taboo. The way I see it, is that we are all very good and close mates.
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I happily rest my head on Connor’s shoulder when lying on the couch or hold him in bed. One of the participants of the study, Matt, described his relationship with his friend Connor: “I feel comfortable with Connor and we spend a lot of time together. Interestingly, the authors found that plenty of these male athletes felt comfortable with cuddling their close friends. The authors interviewed 40 young men who were also athletes, since athletes have a tendency to be in close physical contact (and they also tend to embody traditional manliness, or at least something of a “jock” or “bro” attitude). “How do men gain from rejecting the homophobia of previous generations?” Using the term homosocial - or having a same-sex relationship that is not sexual or romantic - the authors explain that their study is “evidence of an expansion of changing conceptions of masculinity in contemporary culture.” “We knew they were hugging and cuddling, and we wanted to understand this phenomenon in more detail,” McCormack told The Huffington Post. Straight men are behaving in “much softer” ways than in the past, he claims.
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The study reveals that there are changing conceptions of masculinity, co-author and sociologist Mark McCormack of Durham University says. Ninety-three percent of these participants also reported that they had spooned or cuddled with another male. A new study, published in the journal of Men and Masculinities, showed that 98 percent of the white, college-age male athletes who participated in the study had shared a bed with another guy. Now, researchers are looking into this idea of “bromance,” and are pinning it as a sign of our changing society and views on homosexuality. Instead, their bromance appears to be the face of a deep, close, and rewarding friendship. Perhaps you’re familiar with the endearing “bromance” of Scrubs co-stars Zach Braff and Donald Faison - the pair isn’t afraid to take shots of themselves hugging in bathtubs or riding on a motorcycle together.ĭespite what may seem like “gay” behavior for straight men, Braff and Faison aren’t phased by their homosocial antics.