More than ever, single men are entering into exceedingly fulfilling emotional relationships with—believe it or not—other men.

Take, for example, the 2007 episode of NBC’s hospital-based comedy Scrubs in which the show’s two main characters, J.D. and Turk, break into a musical duet, professing their mutual affection. No, they’re not gay. Instead, Turk and J.D., two heterosexual male doctors, are in the throes of what Urban Dictionary, a popular online source for contemporary slang phrases, defines as a “bromance”: “the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males.”

The rise of these intimate—yet platonic—male-male relationships is a modern phenomenon. According to several sociologists, the prevalence of “bromances” is due to delays in major life milestones. Fifty years ago, a man would graduate from college, get a job, and get married in relatively short order. But nowadays, the transition to adulthood is taking about a decade longer.

According to a 2007 report by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, a man’s average age when he gets married for the first time is 27, up from 23 in 1960.

On average, men with more education marry even later. There seems to be little concern among men who are deep in the throes of a bromance; they perceive these male-male relationships as two guys sharing the macho pursuits of drinking beer, fantasy football, and videogames. Rifts can occur, however, when girlfriends enter the picture or someone moves away.

Ted Mariner, for instance, who is 27 and lives in the Boston area, recently saw his roommate of fours years move to another city. He insists, however, that they’ll keep their relationship going long-distance. “I won’t see him every day,” says Mariner, “but I don’t think we’re going to break up the ‘bromance.’”

And they say men have commitment issues.

Source: Grand Rapids Press, 2008