Can men and women be genuine close friends without any romantic interests from either party?

Question

I have seen a lot of manosphere redpill content about male female friendships that say those friendships aren’t possible because it isn’t possible for a man to be friends with a woman without wanting to be in a romantic relationship with her.

I don’t think this is true.

It seems to go with the idea that men and women can’t share any interests since women in their view should just be interested in cooking and cleaning?

Chazmatazz269 · Accepted Answer

People who say that men and women can’t be friends are wildly dysfunctional. There’s no other way to justify the idea that anyone would feel compelled to have sex with literally every member of the opposite sex on the planet. It definitely is primarily a male-driven fallacy.
I was raised primarily by my mother with two sisters and all their friends. I’ve been the only male in the room hundreds of times. I had a few crushes, but i certainly didn’t want to bang them all and if any of them wanted to bang me, i had no clue.
Having a female friend is no different than having a male friend. Even if you’re attracted to them, there’s MUCH more to someone than just physical aesthetics. Everything should be considered before you have sex with someone.
A big part of the problem is that men are still socialized to be hounds, including by their own mothers. If a man doesn’t want to bang every vagina on the planet, he must be gay. Nobody is teaching their sons to respect themselves the way they’re teaching their daughters. Have standards. Set boundaries. Be a real man and reject women who aren’t meeting your ideals. Having sex with someone just because you can is weak willed, even if they’re Little Caesars, “hot and ready”. There’s nothing manly about that kind of weakness. Have some discipline. Show some restraint.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I dated a Mormon girl when my crazy mother was going through a mormon phase. It's where the guy inserts his penis into the girl but there's no thrusting and no ejaculations and is apparently not considered sex by Mormons, you just "soak" the dick. Jump humping is a variation of this, basically you and your girl do the soaking with no thrusting and two of her friends jump on the bed to create friction. I paticularly enjoyed the jump humping because I had 3 girls in the same room and my erect penis in one of them, I think I lasted about 2 minutes as the other two were trying to make me cum. I actually ended up cheating on my girlfriend with one of the jump humping girls and dated the other a year later. Of course it's nonsense that you are still a virgin but when you got blue balls any sex is better than nothing.

A lot of girls from strict religious backgrounds that I've encountered are like this. A lot of baptist girls do the whole fully clothed dry humping thing. Methodist girls give handjobs. Lutherans give blowjobs. Catholic girls do anal.

DeeDeeDeVour · Accepted Answer

I have lots of male friends who I've bee close to since we were kids.

I certainly never had any romantic interests with them except for one guy who I met later on and eventually married.

The other guys probably lusted for me but our friendships didn't get affected.

If they hoped I felt something more for them beyond our friendships, too bad 'coz I just wasn't interested.

sage2021 · Accepted Answer

I even believe that you can become very close and caring friends even if you never met the person in person. Just text messages.

I have also had guy friends that we really cared about each other as people. Friend like that come in handy on moving day LOL

Love Doctor Brad · Accepted Answer

Navigating the waters of male-female friendships, I'm here to sprinkle a little bit of reality on the manosphere's fiery take. Absolutely, men and women can forge genuine, close friendships sans the romantic sparkles. The idea that men and women can't enjoy a platonic relationship is as outdated as those who believe in a flat Earth. 🌍 It's not about gender; it's about connection, shared interests, mutual respect, and understanding. Lovebombing the notion that friendships are confined by the traditional roles of cooking and cleaning is just... well, not how the cookie crumbles in real life. True bonds transcend gender and are anchored in the depths of human connection. So, let's toast to friendships of all kinds – they're the real MVPs in the game of love and life! 🍹

OlderAndWiser · Answer

"men and women can’t share any interests since women in their view should just be interested in cooking and cleaning?" And men think of nothing but sex. . . right?

Over my lifetime, I have had several female friends who were JUST platonic. Believe it or don't.

MrOracle · Answer

If the man is single and the woman is at all attractive to him, then it's nearly impossible. Sure, rare exceptions exist, but we have to generalize when we talk about large populations of people, and while maybe 2 or 3% of men can sometimes do this, we have to make policies based on the vast majority, not the few exceptions.

Most (single) men do NOT have a "just friends" category, because if a man is single, one of his top priorities - even if he doesn't realize it - is getting laid, and while he can shut that desire down to a large degree if he avoids women altogether, it's nearly impossible to do when you are spending personal private time with a woman you find attractive (not just physically, but also her personality, and if you are friends, you have to like her personality).

It's like putting a starving person in a room with a plate of hot delicious food and asking why he can't stop eating from it. To stop would be torture.

NamerOfStars · Answer

The more I hear about these people, the more I think the comparison with "Manos" is apt. "How should we raise awareness of men's issues? Let's try insulting and belittling women at every possible opportunity; that's BOUND to help engender empathy and understanding!". Biological denialism is stupid, but that doesn't mean biological determinism is any smarter.

That said, yes, men and women can be platonic friends- feelings may arise eventually, but they're just feelings, and you choose whether or not to indulge them.

Lliam · Answer

Sure. There doesn't have to be any physical attraction to be friends.

I've even been friends with women who were very attractive but one or both of us were already in relationships, so I didn't even think about hitting on them or making things weird. They were just cool people.

PeachyPie93 · Answer

I don't know I personally liked all my guy friends at one point. But then they all became legit just friends, once they would get girlfriends and stuff. So I think you can, once you see each other like family.

ananias55 · Answer

Most of my friends are females. And some of them are pretty but I'm not attracted to them. And vice versa.
The only men who can't handle being just friends with a female are men who are desperate for affection.

hahahmm · Answer

The only times in my life I got cheated on, my girlfriend had a "harmless" male friend. So I'm not a fan at all of my wife having male friends... and I won't have female friends.

I also never saw the point of platonic relationships with women when I was single because I wasn't the type of guy who would pretend to want platonic if I wanted more. It would just be wasting my time.

Miristheiss · Answer

I don't really care.

My wife is not to be hanging out alone with other guys and texting and talking a lot with other men. I expect proper boundaries with the opposite sex.

I wouldn't have married her if she wasn't going to keep healthy, respectful girlfriend/wife boundaries with other men.

provokeesmokee · Answer

Yes! I have a few male friends who are truly just friends. We're not attracted.

If a guy or girl thinks they can't be friends with the opposite gender, I consider them too immature and too sex fixated to be worth being friends with.

DarkCarousel · Answer

Yes, I believe so. Unless you bring alcohol in the mix and then things can get tricky— though I don’t think that’s the case for all.

NathanDavis · Answer

pretty much anything you see online with a sphere or a pill... is just absolute nonsense

EmmaMary · Answer

Absolutely right they can... I have several extremely close male friends, and likewise my husband has some very close female friends.

CrabCakes11 · Answer

The only people who think men and women can’t be friends are dating obsessed weirdos with no social skills

IslaTheWitch · Answer

yes they can... my male friends and me are breathing examples of such friendships

Anonymous · Answer

Of course they can. It just so happens that it will be much more likely if the guy is dating a WAY hotter girl and if the girl is in a relationship. But the thing is, once those criteria are met, there isn't too much time to prioritize the friendship since both people are off doing other things. But yeah--it can happen.

Pete671 · Answer

Yes men and women can be friends, but the guy imho will always think about sex with her to some extent, I fantasise about making a synth clone of such girls and having sex with that lol,,,

thisAppIsGarbage · Answer

All of my best friends are women and I've only fucked a little more than half of them.

Vegasrunner · Answer

Its not that they can't it's that Men shouldn't because they would be getting the worse end of the deal.

bobby_bush_eater · Answer

You can be but I think there honestly should be a conversation about boundaries at some point.

Anonymous · Answer

let the alcohol do the talking and wait for the excuses to come

Anonymous · Answer

Facts

12karen · Answer

Ofc, men and women can be just friends

jahaims · Answer

Duh.

DishLady · Answer

I think so.

Libarena · Answer

I think so.

Dezmo08 · Answer

Only if they’re gay

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