Do you have any male friends that you have absolutely no interest in physically but that you still love to hang out with?
I've mused about male-female friendships before, but surprisingly, I've never really given it much thought in relation to myself. Honestly, the more that I think about it, the more I realize that I don't have any male friends. Sure, I've got my solid girl group, but I still haven't found the Billy Crystal to my Meg Ryan a la When Harry Met Sally.It's not like I've had some sort of traumatic experience in my past that has made me distrustful of guys. It's not like I haven't had positive encounters with them in the past. So is it that I simply can't relate to them? Am I afraid? I'm not all too sure.
Actually, you'd think I'd be comfortable with the whole guy-girl dynamic by now thanks to my mom. She met her best friend, Bill, when she was 5 and he was 4. They lived in the same neighborhood and spent their days playing outside and going to each other's houses for summer picnic lunches in the backyard. Fast-forward 50 years, and they're still best friends. They've seen each other through college, through marriage, through that scary first job, through having children. Their relationship has always fascinated me because, well, no romantic feelings ever entered into the pictured for either one of them. Ever. I've asked my mom, "Didn't one of you ever fall for the other," and she always gives me this look -- a mixture of shock and awe -- as if I'd just uttered something so blasphemous that she's been rendered speechless.
But their friendship? It worked -- for half a century and counting! So, they must be doing something right. Maybe I should take a cue from them? It would give me great insight into the male mind...Ladies, I'd love to know: Do you have male friends? What do you like about having them in your life? How did you meet? Do you think it's inevitable that emotions will get in the way, or can men and women really be just friends?
[Photos via We Heart It]
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