Forbidden friends: cultural veils of female friendship in Andalusia

Friendship in southern European societies has been recognized theoretically and empirically as a male‐oriented institution. Women are supposedly prohibited from forming friendships, primarily because of moral restrictions on “place” and the constrictions of ties to the domestic group after marriage. Data collected in an Andalusian (southern Spain) town challenge these assumptions, showing that the female dilemma of balancing acceptable domestic decorum with the apparent need for friendship is resolved by the cognitive and behavioral “veiling” of friendship in an appropriate domestic context.