Bromance and the activities of male bonding.

The word bromance has recently been coined, to describe male bonding and friendships between men, in the modern social climate. Bromance is yet another recent example of the ever popular use of the merging of two words together, of which the media have become accustomed to doing on a regular basis. This new word trend was usually reserved for celebrity couples like Brad and Angelina giving you Brangelina, it now seems their moving this trend of word merging onto other concepts, like in this case, brother and romance.

Interest in male celebrities friendships have been gathering quite a bit of interest lately and the trend is set to continue. Various newspapers and magazines have picked up on this, giving more coverage as well as pictures to this new angle of our curiosity in celebrity culture.

Ben Afflec and Matt Damon are probably the most well known of the bromancers, having been best friends for a number of years and frequently spotted being seen out together. Bromance is not however exclusive to the stars, nor is it a new thing, yet it does demonstrate in part how we view male relationships, how different male bonding activities have changed and how many have stayed the same.

The way that genders have traditionally spent time together with those of the same sex, has in many respects changed substantially over the years, for both men and women.

For example it's more acceptable for men to show physical affection towards one another nowadays, you can see this in action just by observing their behaviour during the world cup, similarly at this time we can see them openly crying, which would be almost unheard of just a few decades ago.

Male bonding was once a product of missions, crusades or shared obligations, like work. Fighting, drinking, sport and women were their shared interests in the past. Although competitive sparing and drinking is still predominantly what men do together. The recent additions to male bonding activities are marathon games console playing and even shopping.

Male partnerships have been a popular concept in all mediums, throughout history and on every continent.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, were the popular creations of Sir Arther Conan Doyle. The famous Victorian pairing became so embedded in British culture that some people still believe that they were actually real people. There male bonding came in the form of their detective work together and was such an effective concept it has been used again in such criminal investigative duos like, Morse and Lewis.

This successful idea has also featured predominantly with super heroes and cartoon characters. The two masked men that fight crime as a pair, that immediately spring to mind, is Batman and Robin, however there are others. Danger mouse and penfold. Shaggy and scooby doo.

The list of terrific twosomes are as long as your arm and growing. Starsky and hutch. Tango and cash. Bodey and Doyle. Randal and Hopkirk. To name but a few.

It's not only in the domain of crime these man rule but also comedy, when I was younger I remember watching Keenan and Kel and laughing my head off at their antics. More recently still we have Spongebob square pants and his friend Patrick star, sharing the screen together with hilarious consequences.

Like with many things in life whether it be fashion or business, everything is in some form or another just a derision of something else. Bromance to some degree is just another take on our perception of the male relationship with other men. Although it is not a new concept it is undeniably an interesting one and a subject likely to continue to be of interest way into the future.

If there are any you think I have missed and you think I should add to the poll below, please let me know I will be happy to include them.