On American Idol

[nearlymay]

Ellen continues to be awesome.

A list of observations:

1. The guys hug each other warmly and comfortably, when one of them is eliminated, and it's obviously not considered weird by anyone.  I don't remember that from before, I'm pretty sure it was always the man-hug, carefully maintaining space between the hips to avoid accidental gayness.  Now they hug

Comments

[nearlymay]

Yeah, the guys aren't as good. One or two of them are good, but mostly it's painful and awkward.

[nearlymay]

I will send you text messages. :)

Anatomy of the Man-Hug

[hfwolfe]

I don't really think the man-hug strategy is avoidance of sexuality, so much as avoidance of combative vulnerability. Think of the proper man-hug as echoing a wrestling grapple. The distance of the hips is a matter of leverage and maneuverability. A full embrace, by contrast, would leave a person off balance if pushed by the other party.

Moreover, if someone could show that the man-hug body distance was due to sexual subtext, I think the avoidance would be more centered around ones own junk than that of the other party. I think most men filter out the existence of other mens' junk instinctively.

Re: Anatomy of the Man-Hug

[random_walker]

True and very well said.