Is it possible to have platonic hetero male friends?

[Christy]

I'm curious after some discussion on the men's forum (sorry to copy). Maybe this should be a co-ed discussion.

ETA: Anyone have experience with this? Did it ever turn into something more? Were boyfriends/girlfriends jealous? Did you flirt?

[ynaffit]

Of course!

[rincaro]

My husband has way more female friends than male. At first I was skeptical. But he's an amazing friend and husband. So maybe it helped him. I have a lot of platonic male friends. But being plus-size I think keeps the other stuff out of the equation.

[Schoska]

Most certainly possible. I have no doubts about it what so ever :)

[punkmommy]

Eric and I started out as friends and housemates. I was actually living in the house with someone else ( a complete as*hole). I would flirt with Eric and from the day I broke it off with the as*hole, Eric and I were together.

We have lots of male friends as a couple, but I don't have any male friends that are just *my* friends.

[marleah]

My fiance started out as a friend who I would confide in when I was having problems with my ex. I actually have more guy friends than I do girl friends ... So yes, it's definitely possible, in my book! Ryan's not jealous ... he is friends with them too. It's kinda difficult to be friends with different people when we all went to school together ... I wouldn't say that I flirt ... but I do joke around and have a good time. I'm one of the "cool" girlfriends, I guess.

[Vicky]

i have more male friends than female
and i have one good male friend but my boyfriend hates him

[merr0973]

I go to a school that's 8:1 men vs. women, so I have a ton of pleutonic male friends, cos girls are just hard to come by. My boyfriend has more female friends then male, and while he at one point dated nearly all of them, he's no longer interested in any of them the way he is with me.

[Cissy]

Of course. Probably a majority of my friends are male. Many females tend to get too catty for my tastes.

[Vicky]

oh yeah and i'm officially " one of the guys "
i dunno if that's good or not .... :rolleyes:

[skunkpumpkin]

I have a few good male friends, except it's they who get jealous when I am interested in someone, talk about some other guy, or am seen hanging out with another guy who isn't really in the group. It gets very annoying.

[shagginabit]

Sure! I have a couple of male friends. One of my exes is now my really good friend. It was a bitter break up and I didn't talk to him for a couple of years afterwards, but now we hang out like the best of friends. Nothing sexual, just playing video games, watchin movies, and kickin back with his other two male friends. Its great to not have that pressure. :)

My on and off again boss is male and we're great friends...but err..it kinda stepped over the line recently so that dont count, I guess. :worried:

[catswym]

definitely.

like some of the others i have more male friends than female. with some of them there is an element of flirting but with most, none at all. only once have one of my male friends and i become more than friends. we went back to being friends tho, even after we realized the relationship wouldn't work.

[pavlovskitty]

I guess I'll be the first to disagree. I have never had a hetero male friend where there wasn't a hope for something more, either on my part or his. Not all of those relationships grew past friend level, but there was always something there, whether it was realized at the time or not. But on the other hand, I've had friendships with females that were the same way.

[zoebird]

i have many male friends and none of them have become romantic interests. as much as i love my guy friends, i just couldn't imagine "being" with them in a romantic/sexual way. So, i say "yes!" it can be just a friendship that is mutually beneficial.

i probably have more guy friends than girl friends, but that whole thing fluctuates a lot anyhoot.

[tuesday]

I've always had lots of platonic male friends. Although my boyfriend was one...(the friends to lovers thing has worked out very nicely)
Seriously, though, I think it's very possible and healthy. I don't enjoy a lot of the more traditional girlie activities and have always gotten along really well with the lads. Also, I prefer to have relationships with guys who have either close female friends or sisters. Less likely to have nasty macho, one-of-the-lads, disrepecting attitudes.

[borealis]

I've always had platonic male friends, too. Also platonic female friends. :)

[Christy]

Having grown up with my Dad and older brothers, I tend to relate more to men. My not liking typically girly things (babies, flowered patterns, pink, dolls, whatever) has extended from childhood into adulthood.

I had one friend who was also my husband's friend and our roommate temporarily. We went to eat chinese food together a lot since my husband hates it. No innuendos there at all, and no jealousy on my husband's part either.

There is also a guy at work who I consider a friend. He's in his 50s, but is quite young at heart. We joke, rant about our spouses, tell dirty jokes...some discussions that some of the women in the office would take offense to or consider to be sexual harrassment. (I agree with the comment about some women being catty. I hate that, too.)

Other than those two, none really. I'm open to it, but don't seek out a male friend. I think my husband would be okay with it unless either of us gave him a reason not to be. He trusts me, but might not trust the guy.

[ceryna]

I've had platonic male friends all through school and even now, and while they're all great guys, I would never think of crossing the line.

I'm really open about friends, I can be friends with just about anybody...but what I look for in a relationship is more than that.

As for my BF...he trusts me completely. I don't know if he trusts other guys, but I think he trusts me to get out of a situation where a guy was trying to cross the line.

Oh, and the thing about women being catty? Yeah, been there, suffered that.

[pyrsk]

I have male friends. My last bf wasn't too happy about that but he's an ex now. Yes I may flirt with them but not in a "let's have sex!" way :p

[SilverC]

I used to have lots of male friends, but I always felt like they were hoping for something more. And usually, as soon as they got a girlfriend, they'd stop hanging out with me. :(

[mosquito]

I've had lots. It was never an issue in any of my relationships. Many of them were actually ex-boyfriends, but most were not.

[*AHIMSA*]

I have a lot of platonic male friends. But being plus-size I think keeps the other stuff out of the equation.

Rincaro, could you elaborate a bit ? I take it all your guy friends have only one body type that interests them?

(Please know that in the past when I was more full-figured, I has a guy tell me: "you know, I am not usually attracted to bigger women...you're the first!" I didn't know how to respond to that! (!?!) :stinkeye: )

On a somewhat yet opposit related note, I actually have heard guys saying that when a girl is fuller-figured, they are "easy" and you can score with them faster...(generalizations SUCK!) :yes:

[*AHIMSA*]

I forgot to answer !

Yes, women and men can have platonic relationships.

I have more men in my life then women. My daughters best friend is Male, 11 like her and they even have sleepovers *SUPERVISED with separate sleeping quarters*

I don't flirt with my guy friends any more that I flirt with my girl friends. I only flirt with people I intend to seduce.

[kat]

I think I have more male than female friends. Some I flirt with, some I don't. Some I know nothing will ever happen and some I might like it to happen- but haven't made a move. I have always been a bit of a tom boy so it seems natural to have male friends. When I first came to London I had a group of male friends and it was nice to go and join in the fun, have drinks bought for me and flirt with them without any expectations. Well that kinda fell apart- I guess partly due to the male/ female thing. (one who always told me how much he loved his girl- then tried to bed me. I lost all respect for him)

Kat