[foiboitoi]

You bring up good points. But...

>Homophobia may be one possible reason. If two men unconsciously stand too close to each other while looking at the same thing someone (a woman did this to me once) will exclaim "ARE YOU TWO GAY!??".

Is that really fear of homosexuals? Or more a heterosexual desire to appear available. Even among other males who make those "accusations", the counter-reaction to not appear gay is also an attempt to appear available to women and not decrease your odds of that (you don't want false rumors to spread).

To me "ARE YOU TWO GAY!??" is more flamboyant curiosity than a homophobic behavioral condemnation.

[foiboitoi]

Downvotes? Guess that's what I get for being honest & speaking from my own experience... I brought that up because you can only solve a problem when you understand what's gone wrong. And pinning it on homophobia is a swing and a miss IMHO. If there's a real single answer, it'd more likely be about male reputation & maintaining respect in our corporate focused culture. Which I think isn't that far removed from honor culture.