Choosing to live life in solitude
Cancer
01-10-2022, 03:59 AM
Coincidentally I came across a reference to the following article on twitter earlier today after seeing your post.
https://www.aei.org/articles/mens-social...shrinking/
The gist of the article is that between 1990 and 2021 the percentage of men reporting they had no close friends increased 5 fold from 3 to 15 percent so it appears this is no longer a rarity. Not surprisingly this is more likely to be experienced by men as the percent of women reporting no close friends was 10 percent. Personally I believe these figures are likely to be higher in the gay community, especially among those who are not out, as friendships are complicated by trying to maintain secrecy. It's also worth noting that while many openly gay men form friendships with women, that avenue may be closed to closeted men who would still be seen as being on the make when they approach women. Bottom line is it may no longer simply be a choice to live in solitude, but something for which there is no other option.
https://www.aei.org/articles/mens-social...shrinking/
The gist of the article is that between 1990 and 2021 the percentage of men reporting they had no close friends increased 5 fold from 3 to 15 percent so it appears this is no longer a rarity. Not surprisingly this is more likely to be experienced by men as the percent of women reporting no close friends was 10 percent. Personally I believe these figures are likely to be higher in the gay community, especially among those who are not out, as friendships are complicated by trying to maintain secrecy. It's also worth noting that while many openly gay men form friendships with women, that avenue may be closed to closeted men who would still be seen as being on the make when they approach women. Bottom line is it may no longer simply be a choice to live in solitude, but something for which there is no other option.
![[-]](https://gayspeak.com/images/duende_v3_local/collapse.png)
