
The topic of male friendships is important. Unfortunately it is a topic that so many of us get put off by or find awkward to talk about.Brothers’ goal is to equip men of all generations to have strong and authentic friendships. We also seek to combat damaging cultural mindsets (or the taboo) that may hinder men from having worthwhile friendships in their lives. Though most people love our message, support it and understand why we fight for it, I’ve heard some funny responses when telling people about Brothers: - ‘What? Friendships between guys?’ (followed by an awkward laughter)- ‘Wow, sounds a bit extreme to run an organisation about that.’- ‘Oh, that’s interesting … So is it a gay thing?’- ‘A movement about guys’ friendships … Well, is that really necessary?’- ‘It must be something wrong with whoever came up with the idea of this whole Brothers-thing…'- ‘Please… Guys don’t care about having deep friendships, especially not with other dudes. Girls do. Not guys. That’s just weird…’ Little did we know that running Brothers would sometimes feel like walking on eggshells. People have so many perceptions of love, masculinity and male friendship. Post a photo of two guys (a friendship), and some people will think they’re gay. Encourage guys to comfort each other when needed, and people think we’re trying to turn men into a cuddle club. And the list goes on … All the stigma and awkwardness around men’s friendships is a clear sign that something has gone terribly wrong. And we need to do something about it. Ask a five-year-old boy about his best friend. He will most likely gladly elaborate about him and his friendship. He will have no problem expressing his love for his friend. Ask a grown man, and his response will be quite different. Are you up for dealing with this taboo, once and for all? The more we talk about it, the less taboo it becomes.