For the record I am not against men and women being friends. I have one very long time female friend and it works because 1) neither one of us are physically attracted to each other 2) we both respect each other.
But that scenario is rare. Most of the time one person will have feelings for the other person when it’s a man and woman interacting.
I personally see nothing wrong with men and women being friendly. But men usually have a much deeper definition of the word “friend”. We have a pledge of loyalty when we refer to someone as a real friend. Most of us don’t go around calling anybody we just had a pleasant conversation with “a friend”
But why is it so many women naively think they can bond with a straight man the same way they can with another woman? I somewhat understand this with much younger woman in their late teens and early 20s. Many young men have to learn some hard lessons on friéndzone bs. But these young women really don’t know how much pain they are causing. But there is no excuse for a woman past 30 to do that crap to men they know are interested in them.
Even in strictly platonic scenarios usually much more is demanded out of the man. The woman feels more protected, she gets strong logical male advice, she can depend on him for favors (moving heavy objects), at a restaurant a waiter will usually hand the man the bill first.
So what benefit is there in it for a man in this scenario? I guess he can get a female pov, a “wing woman” to play the jealousy game on other women, etc. But really what else can she do for him?
