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photo of Linn alenius wallin by theo hagman rogowski

Linn Alenius Wallin

Doctoral student

photo of Linn alenius wallin by theo hagman rogowski

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

Author

  • Linn Alenius Wallin
  • Klara Goedecke

Summary, in English

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.

Publishing year

2016-07

Language

English

Pages

55-55

Publication/Series

LIR journal

Volume

7:16

Issue

7

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Department of Literature, the History of Ideas, and Religion, University of Gothenburg

Topic

  • Sociology

Keywords

  • dialogue
  • »disclosing intimacy«
  • feminism
  • friendship
  • reciprocity
  • gender
  • intimacy
  • men’s friendships
  • older women’s friendships

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2001-2489