big step in a male relationship... That’s like going all the
way.” While asking someone to help you move can be a
defining moment for friends, the direct conclusion that
it’s the equivalent of sleeping with someone leads to an
entire conversation mirroring someone being rushed
into a physical relationship—ignoring the basic fact
that Jerry’s friend simply wants help moving boxes and
furniture.

New to the scrutiny of pop culture bromances?
There’s actually a substantial amount of denunciation
online, something I was completely unaware of when
I first began researching bromances. Not everyone’s
prepared to climb aboard the bromance love train and

fully embrace the term as a celebration of male bonding.

As harmless as the word may seem, some people
interpret bromance as fostering homophobia. In a 2013
Tumblr post by Queeradical, the author outlined five

based on mocking and rejecting queerness,” “are used
to queerbait,” “enforce white supremacy,” “enforce cis

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: male dominance,’ and ultimately “are about asserting
: privilege.” The post largely focusses on the atrocious

: “Bound 2” parody starring Seth Rogen and James Franco :
: and accuses television shows of using bromances as a

: way to rope in queer viewers who might expect to see

: these relationships evolve romantically—something

: that will apparently never happen, since ostensibly

: “queerness is bad for capitalism.” Queeradical finishes

: their exhaustingly negligent post with this knowledge

: nugget: “In conclusion, bromances are literally built on
: racism and homophobia by mocking othered identities
: for humour.”

As the author’s name would suggest, these are all
overly radical interpretations (not sure how someone

: could find “Bound 3” to be enforcing white supremacy,
: but we'll just let opinions be opinions); but it brings

: attention to the fact that some people out there are
major criticisms against the term, saying bromances “are :

unhappy with the portrayal of male friendships in the

media. Of course there are going to be instances where
: people use the concept of a bromance to act out petty

: gay jokes and masquerade stereotypes as humorous
: behaviour. But for every J Now Pronounce You Chuck &

Larry and I Love You, Man, there’s a Wayne’s World and

Superbad to provide an example of what genuine male
: friendship is all about

Let me dispel some misconceptions for you here, as

a hopeless bromantic myself. A bromance isn’t a bunch

: of “no homo” jokes strung together in an attempt to ward
: off speculation from other people about your sexual

: orientations; it’s not a parody of what straight people

: suppose queer friendships are like. A bromance is simply
: arelationship where two guys are comfortable enough—
: with themselves and with each other—to wander outside
: the preconceived rubric of what male friendships are

: supposed to be. No longer founded on a triad of sports,

: girls, and beer, a bromance contains all of the ingredients
: that any other normal pairing would offer. In retrospect,

: it seems silly to even need a word specifically for a close
bond between two males, but if that’s what it takes for

: some people to understand, then bromance on.