Can men and women be just friends? - proof within

[TKretts3]

If one or even both of them are gay they can both be just friends.
But even between two straight people I would say that they could both be just friends. IT depends on the persons, really, not their genders.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Can a man and a woman be friends?

You mean apart from when he's gay and/or she's a lesbian?

Well, yes.

I'll take a "P" please, Bob.

 

[orangeban]

Yup, see no reason why not. In fact, one of my best friends is a girl! In fact, several of my best friends are girls! Not much else to say about the matter.

 

[retyopy]

Yes, they can. One of my best friends is female. Do I have the occasional thought? Sure. Does that change a thing? No.

 

[Hagi]

Science!

Now introducing an amazing new discovery!

Anecdotal evidence! [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence]

It will change the way you look at the world forever!

 

[CODE-D]

I doubt it, maybe at the least jack o-oh where is this conversation going.....
Id say itd be hard to be "just friends" if you found them attractive...
but if your not of course you can.

 

[zalfy]

but it's true.....

 

[orangeban]

Can women and men be just friends? Of course. Will the male have sexual thoughts about his friend? Hell yes. Does this somehow invalidate the friendship? No. The sexual thoughts about the friend is simply a result of the unfortunate biological truth that we have two heads and only enough blood to run one at a time. (Yes, the reality is more complex, but it's still as close to the truth as a thread like this needs.) It doesn't in any way mean that the friendship doesn't come first.

Girls: Every damn male friend you've had that aren't gay have had sexual thoughts about you. Does this change anything? Are they any less friends of yours?

While I can't speak as a woman myself, reliable sources in form me that girls actually get sexual urges too y'know, and, shockingly, they also find men attractive.

And I can inform you from personal experience that some men don't actually fantasize about every friend they have.

 

[Ledan]

Disagree all you want, doesn't change what I've seen throughout my life and learned from others living their own lives. Men will have sexual thoughts about their female friends. You deny it so vehemently that I have to question who you're trying to convince. In short, methinks thou doth protest too much.

Any particular reason for your anger and hostility? Beyond simple disagreement, I mean.

Through personal experience I disagree. Men don't always have sexual thoughts about their female friends. Considering that I spent two months this summer surrounded by girls, not having sexual thoughts about any of them, and becoming friends with several of them I think that proves my point.

Also: it is entirely possible for siblings to become friends. I can assure you that brothers don't have sexual thoughts about their sisters. At least not all brothers, because I can't speak of the rest of them...

 

[ConstantErasing]

Of course it's possible to be just friends. I have some friends who are girls (not great friends mind you but that isn't part of the criteria) and I would certainly never think of going out with them and I am pretty sure they don't want to go out with me. Do we occasionally have sexual thoughts about each other? Yes, but so what? We are still friends. And this is even more true for another one of my friends, a guy who for the most part only has friends that are girls yet has only dated one of them and only ever wanted to date 3 (to the best of my knowledge, he is a bit fickle so he might have wanted to date one or two more but I know there is at least one of them that he has never considered dating).

 

[Philol]

Depends on the women.

 

[Lionsfan]

Ok first off, my friend is a total liar. Cause this video proves that hot girls do go to Utah State.

On topic though, yes I think men and women can just be friends. I've got girl friends who've told me they love just hanging out with me, because with guy friends a girl doesn't have to worry about the constant gossiping and catty attacks on each other.

I mean yes I've had thoughts about girl friends of mine, but that doesn't mean I have a desire to act on them. And then I've had girl friends who everyone thought was smoking hot, but I just wasn't that attracted to her. Not all guys are the same and not every guy is attracted to every girl

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

My best friendships with the opposite sex have always involved women that I'm attracted to... to an extent; I find them nice to look at, but feel no compulsion to pursue them, not even passively. Pretty sure there's a fair amount of causation in that there correlation, but I'm no expert.

/shrug

Girls: If you're at least somewhat attractive, every damn male friend you've had that aren't gay have had sexual thoughts about you.

There. Now you speak for everyone.

 

[spartan231490]

Men and women can be just friends. I have several. We've talked about it. They're not interested in me. I'm not interested in them. There are even some that I am interested in, but who aren't interested in me, and we can still be friends with no problem.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Drunk people know not the meaning of the word secrecy.

Drunk people lower their barriers not disintegrate them.
I have plenty of friends I would mind sleeping with but no matter howmany times we get drunk together they will never ever know.

 

[Vlywncint]

Can't they just have those feelings and stay friends?

 

[Belaam]

I have never had a long term (over a year) relationship with a woman who hadn't been a friend for at least a couple of months first.

Hell, my wife and I had been friends since 1991 and didn't start dating until 2000. We married in 2003.

However, I also have more female friends than I can count with whom I have never had a romantic interest in, nor will I ever. Co-workers, members of a PnP RPG groups, Guildies, classmates, etc. Some of them are very attractive, but there has just never been a romantic spark there.