Do people think that friendship between women and men is possibile only if the woman is older?

[Sun_Kim-Ai]

It seems so. Every time I engaged in a friendship with women my age or younger, someone always came up saying I had an affair with them.
But now that I have found a very trusted friend who's over 10 years my senior, that gossip hasn't spread up yet.
What about you?

[AmandaYVR]

Interesting. Never thought about it. Not sure.
I have seen many polls here, and definitely females vote 'Yes, men and women can be friends', while males are all over the place, definitely not in agreement on this.
My theory is if we remove the particularly hormone-charged ten-ish years in a male's life of 15-25, then he kind of calms down more, sex drive-wise, and then I think the odds go up they can separate the two.
I personally have a theory/belief that males who objectify women tend to not see them as having other value, so one of the byproducts of that is not having any desire to be friends (another is not respecting them as equal colleagues or management.)
My experience is every intelligent man believes men and women can be friends. Maybe it also takes some maturity.
I really don't have any comment about the older women aspect. All I can say on that is if a woman (or girl) doesn't see her own value as purely sexual or external beauty, then she will behave and conduct in ways that show her character, and if people have wise things to say about life, then how can they not be a potential friend?

[Sun_Kim-Ai]

Thank you for sharing your answer, I wholeheartedly appreciate it.
I agree with you that men as a whole are the ones that reason like that, while women have a more open approach and realize that women and men can be friends.
I'm a bit unsure about the age factor - I've seen plenty of men who still see women exclusively under a sexual light who were past the age of 25.
And obviusly, they don't value women professionally or academically, which in my opinion is a grave mistake - in my experience, all my projects have been possibile thanks to women - my position of mayor included.
I agree that every intelligent person can and will see members of the other gender as possibile friends and comrades.

The age thing Is something I've seen with other women ironically - the ones who gossiped about me being involved with other women, now don't say anything - it demonstrates how shallow people they are in my opinion.
I agree with you that if a woman or girl doesn't see her own value as purely sexual - also like some men do - then they'll show their true character and qualities.
I like to try and encourage people to do that - a bit so they can find their most suitable path, and a bit because I need solid collaborators and reliable confidantes.

[jaybee281]

Yea I hate the "affair" part too - I've lost people over this - But I don't think it's age - I've had a best friend who's my age and no one ever thought that there was something between us even though we're both pretty good looking - I think it's the attitude - With most girls even friends I'm more flirty and close especially as we touch each other more - Unlike how it used to be with her which is basically a dude friends just different things to talk about

[Sun_Kim-Ai]

If it's not age, what could it be in your opinion? Attitude and/or demeanor?

[razzmatazz009]

I don't think it's possible at all one person always wants to fuck the other doesn't matter what the ages are.

[Sun_Kim-Ai]

Always?

[razzmatazz009]

Yes, although they may be able to keep that feeling suppressed and act like a normal human when they're around that person. They probably go home and masturbate over it lol

[Sun_Kim-Ai]

That's interesting, although luckily enough I don't feel lime that and I seriously hope she doesn't!

[Jamie05rhs]

I kind of agree. Though I do have a few friends who are younger women and it is completely platonic.

[Recurrence]

The age doesn’t matter

[JosyJosy]

I'm sure some do