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With a Little Help from my Friends: Gender and Intimacy in Two Friendship Research Projects

Alenius Wallin, Linn LU orcid and Goedecke, Klara (2016) In LIR journal 7:16(7). p.55-55
Abstract
Friendship is an undertheorized but increasingly important relationship in late modernity. In this article, the authors present findings from two ongoing research projects about friendship, gender and age in contemporary Sweden. They argue that discourses about gender and friendship are highly relevant for how friendship is conceptualized both among men and women, but that culturally ingrained conceptions of men’s inability and women’s capacity to be close friends ought to be problematized further, from feminist perspectives. Furthermore, they discuss friendship practices, problematizing the frequent equation of friendship and intimate dialogues, which are important but may overshadow other friendship practices, like various kinds of... (More)
Friendship is an undertheorized but increasingly important relationship in late modernity. In this article, the authors present findings from two ongoing research projects about friendship, gender and age in contemporary Sweden. They argue that discourses about gender and friendship are highly relevant for how friendship is conceptualized both among men and women, but that culturally ingrained conceptions of men’s inability and women’s capacity to be close friends ought to be problematized further, from feminist perspectives. Furthermore, they discuss friendship practices, problematizing the frequent equation of friendship and intimate dialogues, which are important but may overshadow other friendship practices, like various kinds of support. The authors show that such support is negotiated in relation to ideas of ideal friendship, permeated by reciprocity and equality, and call for further feminist research about friendship, arguing that a feminist perspective can destabilize gendered dichotomies and contribute to problematizing power relations, vulnerabilities and exclusions in friendships. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
dialogue, »disclosing intimacy«, feminism, friendship, reciprocity, gender, intimacy, men’s friendships, older women’s friendships
in
LIR journal
volume
7:16
issue
7
pages
73 pages
publisher
Department of Literature, the History of Ideas, and Religion, University of Gothenburg
ISSN
2001-2489
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
7b487272-ebf4-46b0-a850-5e6b198325bd
alternative location
http://ojs.ub.gu.se/ojs/index.php/LIRJ/article/view/3620/3016
date added to LUP
2019-09-27 14:08:18
date last changed
2021-03-22 16:52:27
@article{7b487272-ebf4-46b0-a850-5e6b198325bd,
  abstract     = {{Friendship is an undertheorized but increasingly important relationship in late modernity. In this article, the authors present findings from two ongoing research projects about friendship, gender and age in contemporary Sweden. They argue that discourses about gender and friendship are highly relevant for how friendship is conceptualized both among men and women, but that culturally ingrained conceptions of men’s inability and women’s capacity to be close friends ought to be problematized further, from feminist perspectives. Furthermore, they discuss friendship practices, problematizing the frequent equation of friendship and intimate dialogues, which are important but may overshadow other friendship practices, like various kinds of support. The authors show that such support is negotiated in relation to ideas of ideal friendship, permeated by reciprocity and equality, and call for further feminist research about friendship, arguing that a feminist perspective can destabilize gendered dichotomies and contribute to problematizing power relations, vulnerabilities and exclusions in friendships.}},
  author       = {{Alenius Wallin, Linn and Goedecke, Klara}},
  issn         = {{2001-2489}},
  keywords     = {{dialogue; »disclosing intimacy«; feminism; friendship; reciprocity; gender; intimacy; men’s friendships; older women’s friendships}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{55--55}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Literature, the History of Ideas, and Religion, University of Gothenburg}},
  series       = {{LIR journal}},
  title        = {{With a Little Help from my Friends: Gender and Intimacy in Two Friendship Research Projects}},
  url          = {{http://ojs.ub.gu.se/ojs/index.php/LIRJ/article/view/3620/3016}},
  volume       = {{7:16}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}