# Men weren’t always “bad at friendship”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/men-werent-always-bad-at-friendship/
- Published: 2026-11-15T12:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-15T12:20:33+00:00
- Original publisher: Vox (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.vox.com/explain-it-to-me/510725/men-friendship-loneliness-debate-history-artistotle
- Topics: AI, Politics, Technology

## Key points

- Men were once considered the experts in intimate friendship.
- Aristotle’s ideal friendship was between two men.
- Ideas about gender and friendship have shifted over time.

## Summary

Historian Tiffany Watt Smith argues that men were once widely seen as the leading experts in deep friendship, challenging modern claims that women are naturally better at emotional closeness. Her account reframes today’s debate over male loneliness by showing that ideas about friendship and gender have changed over time.

The article cites Aristotle’s “perfect friendship”, imagined as a profound bond between two men, and the close friendship between 16th-century writers Michel de Montaigne and La Boétie. Montaigne praised their bond while claiming women lacked the qualities for such friendships, a stark reversal of many modern assumptions. The excerpt comes from a podcast interview about what men today might learn from these histories.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.