Why were they called robber barons ? They kept reducing price and increasing quality <| sep |> I think this article has it backwards . Homophobia doesn ' t rob men of touch . If it were you would expect the more homophobic cultures to be less accepting of men being physically affectionate towards each other . But they aren ' t . As other posters have noted , men in the middle east are fare more physically affectionate than men in the U . S . Similarly , men in the west are far less physically affectionate today , than they were 100 years ago . And that ' s not because society got more homophobic . If the hypothesis were true , we would expect the less homophobic cultures to be more physically affectionate . But they aren ' t . Homophobia didn ' t rob men of male touch . It allowed male touch . When romantic interactions between men are forbidden , then you don ' t have to worry that physically affection could be romantic . This is not to suggest that homophobia is good or necessary . The lack of physical closeness between men today is not due to homophobia , but because most physical affection except maybe parental is coded as romanticsexual , and people are uncomfortable engaging with romantic interactions with people they aren ' t attracted too . This society as a whole . If one came home to your S . O acting like blackandwhitekissbSLJZSX 04 jrK 8 with another person . most people would immeadtily jump to the conclusion that one ' s S . O was sexual with that person . Making men less homophobic won ' t make men more physically affectionate . Rather , society as a whole needs to change to recognize that not all physical closeness need be romantic .