Can a man & woman be truly?

Question

just friends without further complications? Or do you think at least one of them is always waiting/hoping to cross the boundary?

I know this is a wide generalization, but I want to know your personal opinions/experiences.

Answer 1

Hmmm... good question. Seemingly simple, but not so much, really.

Of course it is possible. However, I think there always is some degree of sexual tension in the relationship. Not that anyone is 'waiting or hoping,' they may both be married and have absolutely no intention of ever crossing that line. They could both be single, and both know they would rather stay friends. Maybe they make great friends, but know enough that they would be a lousy couple.

While it is a wild generalization, I think it is overwhelmingly true, especially in the case of single males with female friends. For our friends, we tend to pick people that we can respect and admire, and between the opposite sex, that usually equals attraction, though that doesn't mean anyone has to act on it.

For myself, I have always enjoyed friendships with women, especially when we trust each other enough to know that 'nothing will ever happen.' That lends a measure of comfort to the friendship to go along with genuine affection.

I suppose that what I'm trying to say is that, while you can be friends with 'no complications,' someone is usually waiting for something, and that is usually the man. He may be fine waiting forever, but the woman must be careful how much she 'offers' or seems to offer him.

I'm just saying that the idea will always be in the back of somebody's mind, but the real friendship, real respect comes into play when everyone knows better than to act on the impulse. Just as often as them man is waiting, the woman is testing her limits, trying to see how affectionate she can be before she must spurn him outright. Both parties usually play the game equally.

Sure, there are exceptions, but I think they are far more rare than most of us will admit.

Answer 2

We should first, ask ourselves why they become friends...

It is possible that one of them is attracted to the other, and as a try to pave the way for a love relationship, friendship was found. The other person does not know about this and is out of the game...

One day, the veil is taken away and everything is revealed... and the other side is mostly shocked or disappointed.

there is another possibility; they've become friends without even knowing about what goes inside of them, or at least one of them. Love works subconsciously, and consequently, it comes up to the surface and...

so, for true friendship between a man and a woman, there should be two elements available from the very beginning:
1st- Clarity between the friends
2nd- Self awareness for each of them
we can merge the two in one which is, inner and outer clarity.

Answer 3

Absolutely I believe this. One of my best and dearest friends was a lover for the first eight months we knew each other, and it was an emotional roller coaster. We stopped that kind of relationship because it was too painful.. It wasn't easy, but we didn't want to lose each other because we loved each other too much. The subsequent platonic relationship we created was far deeper and emotionally satisfying than anything we had ever felt through sex. That was about 25 years ago. For a short time we would joke about our previous sexual relationship, and eventually that stopped. He remarried about ten years ago, and his wife - who knows about our past - is now almost a better friend than he is.

This took work and committment and a deep understanding of self that is not possible when you're very young. We were not very young and I'm grateful. He and his wife are great gifts to me. We acknowledge this every year on our "anniversary."

Answer 4

Yes. I am 46 years old and have worked in predominantly male fields, first at a naval shipyard and now on an air force base, and I have had very close friends that are male. We talk about things, even our husbands and wives, joke about sex, go out drinking together, but we don't cross that line and we know we're not going to because we both know we're only friends and what our marriage means to each of us.

Yes, it's entirely possible and it's a great thing!!

Answer 5

I was brought up as the only girl in a family of boys...so from my earliest socialization, I was around males. And that is where I am most comfortable, consequently.

The vast majority of my friends are male, and there has never been any kind of complications. I suppose that I don't 'act like a girl' when I'm with them, and there are never any sexual overtones or suggestiveness.

Its all in how you approach the friendship. If the female engages, at all, in any kind of flirtatious behaviour...for any reason, the relationship will have sexual overtones. And will be doomed as a friendship in the long run.

Answer 6

Most of the time there is a hope of one or the other to take their relationship a step further. I have friends of the opposite sex that sex itself has not been an issue... we simply enjoy each others company. I have also had friendships that became stronger and some disintegrate because of sex. There is no simple answer but it is possible to maintain a friendship without becoming intimate with them.

Answer 7

I've had alot of female frens and some wanted to take it further, where as others were cool just being frens, I guess it just depends on the individual person. My GF used to feel that men have a preconception that if a woman shows any kind of attention to men, we automatically assume the women want to have a sexual relationship with us. But after meeting me and being with me she does not harbor those same feelings.

Answer 8

Friendship between man and woman is a ideal thing..I always tried my best to be just a nice friend of my women friends..It works in front of them also..but in my privates thoughts it does not work well..sometimes I feel sad but sometimes I feel it is the way how nature works inside us..

Answer 9

Hypothetically or rarely, yes but not in general(majority).Law of nature is always stronger than the will or intentions of human beings.

Answer 10

My best friend at university was a girl and we were just friends, until we both got drunk one night and one thing led to another.The friendship sort of died out after that, so in my experience no but I'm sure it does happen.