Men and women have had a strained relationship all throughout history. It is a common belief that men and women can only have romantic relationships.
Relationship experts and psychologists disagree. They say that this is an old train of thought back when men and women weren't considered equal. Today is a new age, they say that men and women can have friendly relationships but it takes work. What do you think?
Can men and women truly be good friends, and why or why not?
12 comments:
I believe men and women can truly be friends, however they may have a different type of relationship then a same gender relationship. Men and women can have the same interests and view points therefore they can be very compatible friends but they may not be compatible to be in a relationship. If there is a defined type of relationship from the start then there will be no further expectations. However , feelings can change more in a male-female friendship than a same gender friendship.
-Ashley Fontana
I agree with Ashley. I have some very good friends who are male, but it's true that we have a different relationship than the ones I have with my female friends. Friendship is definately possible. There are still differences between men and women though, so the relationship could be a bit harder to maintain, but that's not to say it can't happen. Also, if there is no attraction to the other person involved in the friendship beyond the friend attraction, there shouldn't be too big of a problem. As Ashley said though, feelings can change.
Catherine Haverkampf
I do believe that people of the opposite sex can become "good" friends. This is because for a period of time, I had a best friend who was a girl and it was normal (to me atleast). I think that it's the reason for the relationship that is creates the line between friendship or "love". Feelings are going to be portrayed similarly in both situations but also differently. As Ashley said. In conclusion, I would also say that it's rare that these kind of relationships happen, but they do exist.
In my opinion, I think that men and women can be friends, but that it may take more work than same gender friendships. For instance, if one of them is gay, than obvioulsy the romantic and sexual feelings wont be there. And if it is like a best friend known since choldhood, then there would be somethings that would prevent them from ever having romaantic feelings. They would no eachother too well, things only "best friends" should know about eachother that a boyfriend or girlfriend can't. And also there is the fear of losing the friendship if a guy and girl do date eachother and it doesn't end well. Would it be worth risking the end of a life-long friendship to try out a romantic relationship? I wouldn't think so. So yes men and women can have friendships easily in some cases, but generally, it would take a lot more effort becasue you may have the sexual attraction and feelings. A clearly defined boundry line should be set at the beining of the friendship to ensure no one falls for the other.
Sam Wilson
I don't believe it's possible for men and women to have a true friendship. It may start off as a friendship but there will always be one person who has feeling for the other which can end up ruining the friendship. And even though they may not want the friendship to end, there may be no other way because one person in the end will end up getting hurt because there comes a point when one of them won't be able to handle it anymore. There are always those situations where neither of them are each other's types, but usually when you get to know someone deeply and different things about them, you start to care more and more about them and eventually one of them can't help but assume there's somthing more.
I think men and women can be true friends, it happens
every day. I personally have a lot of "guy friends" and
I don't feel attracted to them at all, I know feelings
can change but, if you don't want to be more than friends
with that person I think that you can set those boundaries. It has happened to me where a friend has asked me out, but I just think he was mixing a friendship with a relationship because now we still are best friends and each of us are with someone. This is just my viewpoint, and I know that some friendships do lead to relationships but your not going to date every friend of yours of the opposite sex. You will more likely become good friends with that person unless your mind is set on having a relationship.
-Michele Jacome
I do believe that men and women can have a real/good relationship but at the same time I do not. I feel that at some point in time during your friendship one of the people or possibly both will fall for the other person. But this doesn't automatically mean that just because one or both of the people have feelings or at one point, had feelings, means that it will mess up their relationship. One of my bestfriends is a guy and we have been good friends since the beginning of eighth grade. He on and off has liked me and I used to like him, but he has a girlfriend and I have a boyfriend and we no longer have those sort of feelings towards eachother yet still maintain our bestfriendship wiht no awkwardness or anything. So I do believe it is possible to have a real relationship with someone of the opposite gender and not have it be all about having romantic feelings towards them but it does at times cause problems and make it some what difficult. But if you care about the person enough just as a friend and nothing more than you definitally can put in the effort to maintain a great friendship.
-Danielle Gagnon
Yea i believe that Men and Women can be friends. I along with other male friends of mine have plenty of friends of the opposite sex, and feel no attraction to them because we just see them as friends. Sure intimate relationships can occur but it definitely doesn't happen between every opposite sex friendship.
-- JON PAGE
In my opinion men and women are in fact very much capable of creating a long lasting friendship with each other . Same sex friendships are usually based on common interests which could be achieved in opposite gender friendships , although some may question that frienships could lead to relationships but while this could happen that doesnt mean that this scenario could always occur. A man and a woman dont have to be in a relationship in order to have a good time or share common interests, a man as well as a woman are perfectly capable of creating a friendship which doesnt get mixed up with 'love' which could complicate things and make for an uncomfortable relationship or vise versa.
I personally don't believe that men and women will ever be able to be as good of friends as members of the same sex. I think that there will always be sexual tension from both ends for whatever reason, just because it is human nature and promoted everywhere we look. It is nearly impossible to ignore the hints our culture gives us regarding the issue, based on the television shows, music, and other areas that the media gives us insight as to just how difficult a thing this can be.
-Kyle Van Dam
I don't believe that men and women can truly be friends without one person developing feelings for the other. The only time I think that they can remain friends is when one person is content enough in the friendship to put their feelings for the other person aside so they won't ruin the friendship. Since friendship often leads to a relationship it would be very hard to find a man and a woman who are good friends to not find a greater interest in each other or that don't want to take their relationship any further.
Lambrini Savvidis
I do believe men and women can be friend without one or both of them getting feeling for each other. Although it is easier for men and women to be friends with the same sex. Even though friendship is an important thing, we have to learn to put friendship and love in two different categories. You would also have to be very mature because being friends with the opposite sex could be harder than expected
Malik Golden
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