Author: Rich Gorecki

As I continue making my case for 2025 as The Year for Better Male Friendships, I want to provide one more reason that keeps men from developing deeper, authentic friendships: the metaphorical “masks” we wear. In this post, I will explain the types of masks men wear and how these masks hinder us from making and keeping friends. When Men Hide Behind Masks My last post, The Barriers to Male Friendship, provided several reasons why it is difficult for men to make and keep friends. Studies show that 57% of men report feeling lonely, and 15% of men claim to have no close friends at all. These are significant increases over the last 30 years and an epidemic of loneliness in our country, especially among males. For a great overview, watch this video, The Decline of Friendship. There is also a growing concern about how males are failing compared to

Developing friendships is an essential component of our human connection, but also presents some unique challenges for men. In this next post for my series on The Year for Better Male Friendships, I describe the unique barriers that keep men from making deeper, more authentic friendships that I believe are needed to help us become better men.  As I wrote in a previous post, Men Do Friendships Differently Than Women. “Gender-ally” speaking, male relationships are more tactical, and female friendships are more relational. Men tend to develop friendships “side-by-side” for a specific purpose, through a business relationship or over a shared interest or activity. Females, on the other hand, cultivate intimate friendships “face-to-face” by spending substantial time together. Men move quickly from a task or relationship. They usually don’t share personal details because they can be overly competitive. Women call each other and meet regularly to share emotions, secrets, and