Poll: Can males and females simply "just be friends"?

[ClunkiestTurtle]

If your a guy and your straight then its pretty much a given that if your not deciding whether you would or wouldn't sleep with a girl the first time you meet her then it is a thought that follows soon after....

Actual fully fledged feelings though? umm yeh i guess its perfectly likely that there are many purely platonic friendships between men and women out there but i wouldn't say the majority of them are.

 

[asgardmothership]

If I stroked off my list every girl I considered a friend, I would have virtually no friends. Of course its 'possible'. these creatures we call "women" are actually not dangerous atall and you can talk to them, about normal things, while having little desire to knock them out with a wilderbeast's jawbone and drag them by the hair back to your cave...

All this crap about "friends zone" like by actually daring to do anything beyond cheesy pickup lines and offhand remarks to "treat em mean keep em keen" means that this girl will be utterly repulsed by the thought of you as a partner - is crazy. Yes perhaps you wont be able to have all those one night stands which are so good for your self esteem.. but maybe you will just treat women like you treat men, as human beings -

Radical, I know.

 

[Billion Backs]

Yeah, sure.

Two of my closest friends are girls, and I'd not want to have them any other way. But then again, I wouldn't want to be in any type of relationship at this time anyways. It's too much effort for little result, last thing I want to be is to be linked with someone too closely.

If you're in a relationship just for sex, may I point you to one night stands. There are plenty of people of both genders that would prefer a no-commitment short time sexual relationship. And might I point out to the above poster that having a sexual relationship for the sake of sex alone is in no way demeaning to any participating parties, as long as there is consent, of course.

To say otherwise would be the epitome of sexism. Some kind of medieval perception of women as some kind of pure and innocent "ladies" is extremely sexist. They are people. They are practically the same as males. Hell, I'd go this far and say that perhaps most of the apparent psychological differences between men and women is non-existent and simply indoctrinated in the image of how men/women should be like that gets passed along in every society. Y'know, macho stuff for men, and all that.

With such superstitions removed, I'd wager there would be practically no difference between men and women - anatomy aside.

The whole "Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars" thing should go die.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

Perhaps it's because I am demisexual but I am friends with people from both genders and feel no sexual feelings towards them.

excuse me but what the fuck is a Demisexual? also yes I believe they can be (especially if one of them is gay)

 

[Lord Beautiful]

It was possible for me. I assume I'm not the only one.

 

[Kurokami]

This may seem like a silly question, but I want you to really think about it.

Note: I am not asking if males and females are capable of having a friendship. We all know they can. What I am asking is that do you believe it is possible for males and females to be close friends without one person having feelings for the other at some stage throughout the duration of the friendship?

Remember, I am talking about close personal friends here, the ones you share everything in your life with, not just acquaintances or even good friends.

The reason I am asking this is that my closest friend just told me he had feelings for me. This has completely thrown the dynamics off and it is nothing short of awkward now. It got me thinking and I have never seen a close friendship between a male and a female where at least at one stage, feelings weren't involved.

I've got many girl... (wait for it)... friends, but I can't say that I've had romantic feelings for all of em, most sure, but others instead had... romantic consideration, thinking hmm, maybe I should like this person, but simply don't.

 

[A random person]

Regardless of what some misogynistic idiots [http://www.the-spearhead.com/2010/02/28/a-word-from-the-big-head-about-the-little-head/] (check the comments, though the article itself is also pretty dumb) might say, it is indeed possible. Aside the crude joking response of "with ugly chicks, sure," (disclaimer: just a joke, please don't kill me) I'm friendly in a non-romantic way with several girls.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

Why can't they?
Just because you are very, very close to somebody of the other sex doesn't mean you want to "do" them.

 

[Biosophilogical]

The reason I am asking this is that my closest friend just told me he had feelings for me. This has completely thrown the dynamics off and it is nothing short of awkward now. It got me thinking and I have never seen a close friendship between a male and a female where at least at one stage, feelings weren't involved.

You do realise it is only awkward because you aren't making enough effort to make it not awkward. I mean, I'm male, and a female friend said she had a crush on me, I told her I didn't reciprocate and I just made sure to behave normally, and within a week, we were back to how we were before. But then again, if you are making the effort and not just going 'Oh no, feelings! Run away' but things still are weird, maybe you should try talking to him about it, instead of tiptoeing around the issue.

 

[Angryman101]

Not for me. To even bother talking to girls there's usually a bit of an attraction towards them. I may have just had bad experiences, but just being friends with girls is a huge pain in the ass compared to being friends with dudes.

 

[KiLl_RoY]

No way in hell.
Only If one of them is already with someone or they are JUST friend and not CLOSE friends, because there is no thing as close friends.

 

[Always_Remain]

I could make the really low joke that only gay men can be bestest friend with women but that isn't true. Men and Women can be friends but emotions and whatnot tend to get in the way.

 

[Custard_Angel]

Yes. It's very possible.

I am however very sceptical that you can go from a relationship to being just friends.

I tried it, it was horrible.

 

[Akalistos]

It depend on the relationship. New couple, maybe they can. But love is nothing but a chemical reaction. So no! In absence of relief, you would start hitting on her(him). In fact i read a article that said that the longer you go into abstinence, the more your bound to find more younger mate which a more naive. I won't go in more detail, but that article wasn't about friendship with other gender.

The point is that it part of our subconscious, like it or not. Sex isn't a desire but a need. Beside, Who hasn't heard of friends with benefit. You can thank the ever growing oversexualisation of the media for that.

 

[Gigaguy64]

I would think so.

I have plenty of Female friends that im really close too and care about in a non-romantic way.


Though i dont think its very common.

 

[AmayaOnnaOtaku]

I have male friends, yes it is possible

 

[Actual]

Everyone who has said Yes to the poll is either a filthy liar or didn't fully read the question.

I have slept with exactly two of my best friends, the rest are male.

 

[Standby]

This may seem like a silly question, but I want you to really think about it.

Note: I am not asking if males and females are capable of having a friendship. We all know they can. What I am asking is that do you believe it is possible for males and females to be close friends without one person having feelings for the other at some stage throughout the duration of the friendship?

Remember, I am talking about close personal friends here, the ones you share everything in your life with, not just acquaintances or even good friends.

The reason I am asking this is that my closest friend just told me he had feelings for me. This has completely thrown the dynamics off and it is nothing short of awkward now. It got me thinking and I have never seen a close friendship between a male and a female where at least at one stage, feelings weren't involved.

You gotta love the amount of people that don't even read the question properly.

In short, i don't think it is possible, guys are programmed to think in a certain way, and if the were to get very close to someone of the opposite sex, there will always be the 'more than friends' thought lingering around in there.
Of course i'm just speaking from experience, there'll always be exceptions, but for the most part if they're going to get that close something is bound to cross the guys mind.