How can I become friends with women without making it seem like I’m interested in dating them?

[Anonymous]

I’m a bisexual guy and I like having both male and female friends. There’s a girl in my college seminar that seems super cool, and she seems like exactly the kind of person I’d want to be friends with, but because of our assigned seating I never have an excuse to talk to her. I have no interest in asking her out (and I think she might be a lesbian given the stickers she has on her laptop), but if I just randomly approach her after class and try to talk to her for no reason it’s probably going to look like I’m hitting on her when that’s not the case at all?

[Oliverlogan263]

Hey man, I totally get where you're coming from. Making friends with girls can definitely be tricky without them thinking you wanna date. But there are some chill ways to approach it that don't come on too strong.

First, maybe see if there's a reason to chat with her after class relating to an assignment or something. Bring up your notes or an article and invite her perspective. Subtly shows friendship intent over romance.

You could also see if she's into any of the same shows/hobbies you mentioned and casually invite her to check out an event with others. Group settings are automatically lower pressure.

Or just be straight up - say something like "Hey, saw you had some cool stickers and seem real chill. Wondering if you'd wanna grab coffee sometime and shoot the shit as friends?" Direct approach shows confidence without mixed messages.

Either way, let her take the lead in how friendly to get. Respect boundaries and don't push too hard. If she's open to it, just make sure to keep things light and fun like how you'd treat a guy friend. You got this man!

[Anonymous]

Not really. Just compliment her stickers first. She'll say thanks.. might banter a bit. And then next day you can say hey... it's all simple dont stress out