Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Gendering friendship
T2 - couple culture, heteronormativity and the production of gender
AU - Cronin, Anne
PY - 2015/12/1
Y1 - 2015/12/1
N2 - This article draws on interview material to analyse the ways in which heterosexual ‘couple practices’ interface with friendship practices (outside the couple). Focusing on the qualitative detail of participants’ experiences of friendship and of coupledom, I analyse the relationalities of gender, heterosexualities and friendship. Rather than focusing on gender as a variable in friendship variance, I examine the ways in which friendships ’do’ gender and heterosexualities. In this dynamic, intimacy is practiced by participants as a zero sum game and its distribution is strongly bounded. I argue that this distribution acts to create and reinforce boundaries of ‘friendship’ and ‘sexual couple’ bonds, and I examine the implications of these findings for analysing the relational qualities of the friendship tie.
AB - This article draws on interview material to analyse the ways in which heterosexual ‘couple practices’ interface with friendship practices (outside the couple). Focusing on the qualitative detail of participants’ experiences of friendship and of coupledom, I analyse the relationalities of gender, heterosexualities and friendship. Rather than focusing on gender as a variable in friendship variance, I examine the ways in which friendships ’do’ gender and heterosexualities. In this dynamic, intimacy is practiced by participants as a zero sum game and its distribution is strongly bounded. I argue that this distribution acts to create and reinforce boundaries of ‘friendship’ and ‘sexual couple’ bonds, and I examine the implications of these findings for analysing the relational qualities of the friendship tie.
KW - Couples
KW - friendship
KW - gender
KW - heteronormativity
KW - heterosexuality
KW - intimacy
KW - relationality
U2 - 10.1177/0038038514559321
DO - 10.1177/0038038514559321
M3 - Journal article
VL - 49
SP - 1167
EP - 1182
JO - Sociology
JF - Sociology
SN - 0038-0385
IS - 6
ER -