IN THE NEWS: Best Friends as Almost-Husbands
In Marie Claire (January 2013)
With women marrying later, more likely to be self-supporting, and sometimes opting to remain single, it’s not uncommon for them to find best friends with whom they get very attached—in a relationship almost as intimate as a marriage.
In describing one such relationship in Marie Claire, freelance writer Whitney Joiner says, “Best friend doesn’t seem to adequately describe what Hill and Finley mean to each other.”
After speaking with me, Joiner writes:
“The problem, of course, is that because there’s no duty in a friendship to hang in and ride out rough patches, as there is (at least in theory) in a marriage, it’s way easier to call it quits with a pal than with a husband. Relying on a friend the way you might a spouse can be fraught with peril. ‘Responsibilities are clearer in a marriage or family,” says psychologist Irene Levine, Ph.D., author of Best Friends Forever: Surviving a Breakup With Your Best Friend. In a friendship, what’s too much to ask? When are you too demanding? Boundaries are more amorphous and harder to define. You might be more free to tell your husband that he’s acting too needy, but that same criticism could threaten the very foundation of a friendship.'”
Read the entire Marie Claire article here: Downsides of Extreme Best Friendship – Women Replacing Men in the Family – Marie Claire
Category: IN THE MEDIA
