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Do Men Suck At Friendship?

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101–110 of 261 posts

Re: Do Men Suck At Friendship?

#101
post #64

All my long-term friends are women. The closest are ex-lovers or best-friends lovers/ex-lovers. Most of our banter is about relationships and general angst. Many I only see maybe once or twice a year, but talk regularly online or over the phone. But even before I had any romantic history, most of my friends were girls. Nearly all of my male friends have drifted, but I have female friends from highschool that I still…

Maybe it's hard to make male friends when all you wanna talk about is relationships and general angst.

Re: Do Men Suck At Friendship?

#102
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of cringing, the adjective you're looking for is 'American'.

I wonder when "America" ceased to mean "the two continents North and South America" and started to mean "USA" in the heads of US citizens. There's a reason why "European" isn't synonymous to "German", and why "Asian" isn't synonymous to "Chinese".

United States of America = America United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland = Britain

Re: Do Men Suck At Friendship?

#103
My formative years were somewhat less than ideal (moving every three months, abusive environment, fat before fat was normal, nerdy, etc). I always blamed not being able to make lasting relationships on that. I've now come to the conclusion that 80% of why I suck at friendship is innate, and 20% is learned.

I've tried hobbies and meetups to no avail; I just wind up sitting in the corner. I think this is where the 20% mentioned hurts. Even if I manage to get out of that corner (a rare event, but it does happen), I don't know how to take a conversation beyond "How's it going?"

Where's the Facebook for actually finding new friends?

Re: Do Men Suck At Friendship?

#104
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder when "America" ceased to mean "the two continents North and South America" and started to mean "USA" in the heads of US citizens. There's a reason why "European" isn't synonymous to "German", and why "Asian" isn't synonymous to "Chinese".

United States of America = America United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland = Britain

He knows how it came into being. I think his question was more along the lines of "should it?"

Re: Do Men Suck At Friendship?

#105
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of cringing, the adjective you're looking for is 'American'.

I wonder when "America" ceased to mean "the two continents North and South America" and started to mean "USA" in the heads of US citizens. There's a reason why "European" isn't synonymous to "German", and why "Asian" isn't synonymous to "Chinese".

> and started to mean "USA" in the heads of US citizens

You're being a little pedantic. It's usually understood to refer to US citizens by just about everyone outside the USA as well, not just US citizens themselves.

Re: Do Men Suck At Friendship?

#106

> That's because nearly all research into healthy aging has found that the key to a long, happy life is not diet or exercise but strong social connections – that is, friendships. Loneliness accelerates age-related declines in cognition and motor function, while a single good friend has been shown to make as much as a 10-year difference in overall life expectancy. This makes me sad :( My mother passed away from cancer…

I would get him a dog. I would also set him up on Skype so that you and your sister can interact with him in a personable way more often.

This is actually a great suggestion. If you are a dog person it can bring a lot of joy, amusement and companionship. The thing that sucks though is that they very short lives. My lhasa apso did live to be 17 years, but this is unusual for most other dog breeds.

About loneliness and losing people dear, my brother's friend's dad lost his parents, wife and son all at an unusually early age. I would have no idea how to deal with that.

Re: Do Men Suck At Friendship?

#107

> That's because nearly all research into healthy aging has found that the key to a long, happy life is not diet or exercise but strong social connections – that is, friendships. Loneliness accelerates age-related declines in cognition and motor function, while a single good friend has been shown to make as much as a 10-year difference in overall life expectancy. This makes me sad :( My mother passed away from cancer…

Make sure he knows that dating doesn't mean he's trying to replace the relationship he had with your mother, or take away anything they had together. It's possible to meet new people, have new experiences, and still cherish those old memories.

Re: Do Men Suck At Friendship?

#108
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly lead you to think the author was gay?

Do men have to be gay to be effeminate?

The adjective that should usually be used for that stereotype is 'camp'. Plenty of gay men aren't camp, and plenty of camp men aren't gay.

Re: Do Men Suck At Friendship?

#109
post #105
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder when "America" ceased to mean "the two continents North and South America" and started to mean "USA" in the heads of US citizens. There's a reason why "European" isn't synonymous to "German", and why "Asian" isn't synonymous to "Chinese".

> and started to mean "USA" in the heads of US citizens You're being a little pedantic. It's usually understood to refer to US citizens by just about everyone outside the USA as well, not just US citizens themselves.

For those languages for which this is actually true, you can most likely chalk it up to US cultural influence.
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