I don't pretend to know the real answer, if there is one, but this is what I believe based on my own experiences.
Part of it's social conditioning, but there's more to it: within many if not most male peer groups, conversation is often conducted as if it were a zero-sum game with winners and losers. Showing emotional vulnerability of any sort is "losing," so the conversations tend to be superficial by perceived necessity, even if that perception is mostly on a subconscious level. IE: It just isn't done.
You might see something closer to a "real" conversation between two very longtime friends or in a very small group, but even that's rare. Men often simply do not bond in that way.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-03-12 08:39 pm (UTC)Part of it's social conditioning, but there's more to it: within many if not most male peer groups, conversation is often conducted as if it were a zero-sum game with winners and losers. Showing emotional vulnerability of any sort is "losing," so the conversations tend to be superficial by perceived necessity, even if that perception is mostly on a subconscious level. IE: It just isn't done.
You might see something closer to a "real" conversation between two very longtime friends or in a very small group, but even that's rare. Men often simply do not bond in that way.