Two Women Redefine What it Means to Marry Your Best Friend

In 2000, Sheri Kathleen Cole and Ellen Elizabeth Moore took one of the greatest steps toward commitment in the modern era: They bought a home together.

The act of purchasing a small rowhouse in the Southwest Center City section of Philadelphia felt like a natural progression in a friendship that began in 1992, when the two met at the University of Cincinnati while pursuing master’s degrees in women’s studies.

The glue that initially bonded them? Duran Duran. Ms. Cole, 54, who described fandom as “basically obligatory” when she was in high school, hadn’t listened to the band much since. That is, until she met Ms Moore, also 54, and a lifelong “Duranie,” as die-hard fans are called.

Ms. Cole’s interests focused on the way images of girls and women created by men affect women’s sense of self — and Duran Duran’s videos offered plenty of material. “Beth and I spent hours picking apart their videos,” and analyzing what she described as “pornographic images of women.” (Nevertheless, she remains a fan.) Their fervent discussions inspired Ms. Cole to write her master’s thesis on the subject.

And so Ms. Cole was hooked — not just on the new-wavers’ music, again, but on spending every moment with her new friend as they devoured endless episodes of ABC’s “Supermarket Sweep,” MTV’s “The Real World” and “so much Graeter’s ice cream,” referring to a beloved Ohio treat.

The two recognized in each other a kindred spirit. “We talk about all the same things,” Ms. Moore said. “We were in each other’s pockets all the time.”