What you point out is certainly a part of it: the sheer efficiency of working together without the distraction and temptations of the opposite sex. But I wouldn't say sex segregation is "all about" that, or any other one thing. The red-blooded male has certain strong urges, and in the absence of females the boys start looking even better to those urges, and a second sort of distraction can take hold. Even if the eros that emerges is kept under check sexually, the bonds that can result have a huge influence on development of character and lasting social bonds for men. BL is one dimension of something I believe is generally true: that males of all ages develop real affection for each other far more easily in the absence of females -- for a host of reasons. |