Can Guys and Girls be Friends?

By: Alicia Crosby


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture this. You see a man and a woman walking down the street. What's the first thing you think? That they're a couple, right? Well maybe you're wrong. Maybe they're just friends. Can guys and girls really just be friends? Well it depends. It depends on the individuals in question as well as the intensity of their relationship. A male and female who have an intimate friendship that has lasted over a long period of time are less likely to pursue a non-platonic relationship, compared to opposite sex friends who haven't know each other all that long. I personally know that I'm likely to fall for a guy I haven't known for very long. I consider my male friends that I have known for a while as brothers and it would be extremely difficult to see them as anything other that.

Having a male in your life that is just a friend is great. You get to see things from a totally different point of view. It's funny seeing how they perceive situations so differently than women. When talking to a group of my peers about this topic, the responses that I got from the young men were so different than those received from the young women. One of the guys admitted that most of the time when a male befriends you, its in hopes of getting somewhere with you. Everything else is an accident. As funny as this statement was, it troubled me a little bit. Is it the truth? I know that when I befriend members of the opposite sex based on their personality and what I feel that they can contribute to my life. I don't usually become friends with a guy in hopes for something more. If something more results, that's completely coincidental. Now what happens when you begin to like one of your friends? You should ask them out, right. Is it really all that simple? Hardly!

What if they don't feel the same way about you? What if they have a significant other, what will you do then? Is it really worth risking a solid friendship to pursue something that may not even work out? These are questions that you should ask yourself when facing a situation such as this. The outcome may be great but lets be realistic, not everything ends up picture perfect. Therefore, you should look at all aspects of the situation before you jump into anything. So, can members of the opposite sex really just be friends? Sure and it would be ludicrous to think otherwise.

Cross-gender friendships bring such color and vibrancy to an otherwise bleak and dull world. I mean would you really want all of your friends to think the exact same way that you did.? I would hope not. A different outlook on life is just one of many things that makes members of the opposite sex such great friends.

 

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