How Homoeroticism Taught Me About Intimacy in Friendships
Watching men interact in the Republic of Georgia was the exact lesson I needed about the power of expressing intimacy in friendships.
Published in
7 min readFeb 5, 2020
Wikipedia characterizes homoeroticism as sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male-male or female-female.
With a caveat attached — the concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas “homosexuality” implies a more permanent state of identity or sexual orientation. — Source
Men in Georgia had no issues showing physical intimacy to each other, the kind you’d expect from couples, but they were deeply homophobic thanks to theocratic ideas about sex and sexuality.
I found most of their behavior to be a direct cause of sexual repression but there were lessons I also learned as I observed their culture and consider it in retrospect.
