Man-to-man: A body talk between male friends

Abstract

In this article, the author discusses friendship as a method of qualitative inquiry and howthis method informed research on the social construction of masculinity in male-male friendships. First, a narrative account of a first meeting with a participant is given. Next, the discursive aspect of fieldwork is considered where the author's ideas about friendship as method and "the reach of dialogue" are outlined. Finally, the article focuses on the role of autoethnography in conducting and representing qualitative work on masculinity. © 2006 Sage Publications.