In order to better explore the heterogeneous nature of masculinities in Slovenia, this master's thesis tackles the ways in which heterosexual masculinities emerge in the field of same-sex friendships. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted with ten heterosexual men in the period of emerging adulthood, we analyze (1) boundaries of emotional and physical closeness between heterosexual men, (2) interpretations of (in)appropriate exhibitions of masculinity and possible reasons for maintaining or violating the norm, and (3) the formation and reproduction of hierarchical relations between men. Our findings show that most of the interviewees' homosocial friendships are still policed by heterosexist social expectations which lead many to distance themselves from overt emotionality and physically tactile interactions. Furthermore, we have found that a high degree of intimate expressiveness in some heterosexual men's homosocial relationships does not necessarily lead to inclusive attitudes in other social fields. For that reason we conclude that any future research exploring gendered male friendships should pay attention not only to power relations within homosocial (heterosexual) contexts, but also to discourses that in these privileged circumstances form the opinions on heterogeneous Others.
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