Male Bonding: Why It's Important

The Breakdown: Why Male Bonding is Important

As men, we spend a lot of time chasing our goals and fulfilling our responsibilities. In doing so, we often forget to nurture and cherish the relationships that matter the most. But what does connecting with other guys look like? While that’s a loaded concept I’ll try to tackle here, much of what you’ll read here is from my own successes and failures as a man. The importance of male bonding and spending some quality time with buddies can’t be stressed enough. Honestly, a classic movie scene from ‘Stepbrothers’ sums up my ideal male bonding, in a comical way of course. There are studies that suggest spending time with other men can lead to health benefits, both physical and emotional. In this article, I’ll breakdown some of the key reasons why I think male bonding is crucial for every man out there.

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Male Bonding: Why it’s Important & Step Bros!

Helps You Identify with Other Men

Male bonding helps us identify with other guys and find a common ground. Without it, we may forget that identity. I’m not talking about societies labels of what a man should be. Depending on how you were raised, that ideal may look different. I think at the heart of that identity is confidence in what you are. Society will tell you men don’t need to connect with other men. This is blatantly false. If you think back to childhood, on the playground, court or field, maybe there was more rough housing. This non-sexual physicality helped shape and bond us to one another. Unfortunately, as we aged and lost touch with high school or college brothers, we lost those bonds. Men need these, whether you know it or not.

Boost Intimacy and Vulnerability

Building a strong male bond requires us to be vulnerable and trusting. Often it starts with men talking about common interests. Maybe you strike up a superficial conversation about cars or sports. From there male bonding can then evolve into talking about the marriage or insecurities. As mentioned previously, society has created some preconceived notions about what being a man is. “Guys don’t need other guys, they want to be surrounded by women” or some other nonsense comes up often. This is a lie and couldn’t be farther from the truth. Men do in fact need other men for support and encouragement. Believe it or not, in previous generations, it wasn’t uncommon for men to express their love and affection for each other in a deep-rooted friendship fashion via letter.

Male Bonding Can Benefit Your Relationships in General

If you’re like me, you may have some issues you’re dealing with from childhood or dysfunctional families that currently affect your marriage or other aspects of life. In my experience, male bonding and connecting with other men has helped to increase my emotional IQ. As you build a deeper bond with your male friends, you learn to communicate better and empathize with others in other areas of life. These skills are transferable and can be used to enhance your relationships with your wife, girlfriend, family, colleagues, and acquaintances. I believe this connection is at the heart of developing our identity as men. This includes being a consistent and dependable foundation to those who are important to us.

Help Reduce Taboos and Myths Surrounding Male Bonding

Unfortunately, the term “male bonding” is often misinterpreted. There are plenty of myths that suggest hanging out with your guy friends is unnatural or unmanly. With society widely accepting homosexuality, some may assume men spending time together is sexual in nature. Or if two men are hugging, then they must be gay. These misbeliefs have created a wedge and disconnected men as a whole, who really do need to connect with other men. However, I feel pretty dang secure in my manhood nowadays and can say there’s nothing with a good man hug! Male bonding, increasing connection with other men and decreasing stigmas surrounding the topic needs to stop. It’s vital to our growth as a brotherhood.

Can Increase Your Success in Life

Think about your circle of friends and then reflect on your station in life. Men who have strong male bonds often have a sense of loyalty and support that they can count on in times of need. We can call this leverage or access to what life has to offer through your male bonds. This support can be invaluable in achieving our success in life. Whether we need a business partner, a sounding board, or a recommendation for a job, you can turn to your brothers. I think someone once said, “show me your friends and I’ll show you your future”. What does that look like for you?

Help Reduce Stress and Boost Health

Research has shown that spending time with buddies can reduce stress and boost emotional health. There’s also research suggesting increased social connections in boyhood, can lead minimize the chance of heart problems and obesity in adulthood. If this is the case, every parent should support their boys in fostering solid connections and bonds with their male friends. It makes sense though. There was a time when I wasn’t making regular connections with my guy friends. If you’re like me, at the age of 45, most of my childhood friends have married off and we’ve fallen out of contact. So, I’ve had to make new connections and establish friendships in new towns and states. It’s a stress reliever to kick back, talk trash and not have the pressure that a guy can feel in romantic settings with a woman. After a long time, it’s nice to reconnect with men.

Lift Some of the Emotional Burden from Your Marriage

This one is a relatively new concept for me. As I mentioned on the home page, I recently got married. My wife is an amazing woman, but she’s got a lot going on. And being everything to everyone is a heavy burden. I’m also learning that marriage can be stressful. So, the need for that male bonding I have previously relied on, has returned. Balancing life and the unique struggles that come with being a man should naturally be taken up with men, right? Women have their ladies to run woman issues by, so it’s only natural that we would resolve our own unique life experiences in the brotherhood.

The Wrap Up: Why Male Bonding is Important

This topic is extremely personal to me. I came from a broken family but had a good dad. He wasn’t a loving father, who hugged on me. That wasn’t his style. However, as I grew into a man, I realized I was lacking in many areas as a man. This lack of intimacy with my father created a wedge between myself and the world as a whole. It was not until my 30s that I realized my need for male bonding and connecting with men who knew who they are and how to be. So, I’ve done some research on my own journey to manhood and coupled that with my own life experiences to write this article. I hope you’ll take these concepts into consideration as you grow as a man. Please share other articles on the blog and send me a message if you’ve got questions. -The Good Guy

Thoughts From The Author

So, I really appreciate you stopping by and supporting this site. It is my safe haven to come and put out ideas in my head. Basically, it’s become an online article. And my home is that someone out there can benefit in some way. Therefore, if you found value here then check out What Men Secretly Want Guide, What is a Bonus Dad and 14 Tips for Parenting Tween Boys. Also, Future Tripping Ain’t a Good Thing and Find Something To Live For are powerful reads. Please share with someone in need and fight on my friends! God Bless.