The stigma surrounding male-to-male intimacy is a relatively recent phenomenon, a product of the lavender scare of the 1950s. (After all, the Olympic partners do share an apartment together.) Following last week’s controversy, Laugher’s girlfriend went so far as to make a public statement about her boyfriend’s sexuality. To put it bluntly, men shy away from hugging one another not because it’s “unmanly” but because they’re worried about being perceived as gay. Kory Floyd, a researcher at Arizona State University, suggests that the maximum length for a male-on-male embrace is one second, and anything longer is coded as being romantic or sexual in nature. Most Western men do not exchange hugs as a social custom, and they especially do not exchange prolonged ones. BuzzFeed dubbed it “the most awkward hug in White House history.” But what made the moment an object of fascination is its seeming novelty. President Barack Obama’s farewell hug to Jay Carney, his former press secretary, became an instant meme in 2014. Twitter users decried the gaffe as distasteful, but the Mail is hardly the only outlet to express discomfort at a display of affection between two men, even heterosexual ones. “Britain’s victorious synchronised divers hug for joy after winning gold,” the Mail wrote, “while China’s bronze medalists settle for a manly pat on the back.” The moment is sweet and a bit silly, the kind of rapturous gesture that doesn’t seem out of the question when someone has earned the highest possible honor in his sport.īut to the Daily Mail, there was something questionable - even girly - about their prolonged cuddle, contrasting their elation with a more subdued exchange from the Chinese team. In a photo of the two, Laugher appears to pounce on his diving partner, wrapping his arms around Mears’ neck. Last week, the U.K.’s Daily Mail raised its proverbial eyebrow at an embrace between Chris Mears and Jack Laugher, a pair of British Olympians who had just won the gold medal for the 3 -meter synchronized dive.
What’s the matter with a hug? Nothing, unless it’s between two men.