The "Doxa" of Bed Sharing

             In the book "Straight The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality" by Hanne Blank, she discusses one interesting aspect of a "doxa" in her second chapter: Carnal Knowledge. She brings up the point about how in the past, the term "sleeping together" between two individuals of the same sex was actually seen as a norm and did not have to mean that the two individuals were homosexuals. She talks about how even our 16th president of the United States: Abraham Lincoln wrote letters between close friends and discussed how he was a well known bed sharer." What interested me was that if our president today was a well known, "bed sharer" between close friends, he would have automatically been thought of as a homosexual. She discuses in her book how back then, bed sharing was a common and emotionally intimate refuge and was also a great sign of affection. It did not necessarily mean that they were having sexual relations in the bed, it was just a sign that they were very close enough to sleep together.
             Blank talks about how this "doxa" of bed sharing has been changed in our time. Nowadays, if two people of the same sex share beds constantly, it is assumed that they are having sexual relations together and it is not normal. Personally, I agree that the concept of "bed sharing" has changed drastically over time because I have also done my share of bed sharing when I spend the night at close friends houses   or even some relatives and I have experienced when my close friends' family joke around that we are perceived as "lesbians" because we shared a bed for a night or two. I know that this stereotypical view of bed sharing is mostly wrong because I do believe that sharing a bed with a close friend can be a sign of affection and can show that the person cares for you enough to not make you sleep on the floor.