BellaOnline Forums Relationships Marriage Can a man and a woman be "just friends...?"

You are so correct. But women are also vulnerable to the advances of men. Right?

What about the fact that everyone has different tastes in looks? Not every single one of your friends is going to fit the description of what you find attractive. So obviously, yes, men and women can be friends without being attracted to eachother.

I have many male friends who I am not attracted to, and I really don't think they are attracted to me because I know their "type" that they like, and I'm NOT that. Plus, currently, most of my male friends I consider family. They are wonderful people, and I love them as people, but there's no physical attraction between us.

I am seriously struggling to see most of my male friends wanting to step in if my husband were not present. I don't have a chatty emotional connection to most of my male friends. They typically fall into one of these categories:

I am older than they are and they see my husband and myself as mentors. They come to us when they need advice or support. I often treat them like I would my own kids. For that matter, I am laughing at the very idea of one of them wanting to take on fathering three kids.

They are friends but our friendship is based on group setting. We have two friends who after years of friendship, I have never been alone with them. The personal things I know about them I know because their wives told me or my husband did.

I have male "friends" who are as another poster said, activity based. Remove said activity and we would likely not have any desire to spend time in the same room much less anything else.

Now, I will give you that I have two male friends who I am more emotionally connected to. One lives several states away so I don't see him rushing out to sweep me away from any life issues. The other is attached to our family as a whole, he enjoys being a part of our family. Would he want to step in if something happened to my husband? Who knows but it would have to be a case of death to bring that on. I do know that he and I have some vastly different personalities that would make a match sorely strained and we lack the spark of attraction.

I agree there. Comments are being made that assume all men would go for any woman.

I don't think all my male friends find me attractive and I certainly am not attracted to them. I know some of them disagree with my choices in life, my beliefs, ect. They might like me well enough as a friend but they would not want to live with a woman like me.

As for seeing a chance for casual sex, if they were ever my friend or my husband's friend, they would respect me more than that. They would know that isn't something I would want or would feel good about.

Yes, you have a very valid point.

Do you think a woman who is not attracted to a male friend nor sees him as good mate material would still be at risk for a sticky situation?

no, I don't think so.

I mean, not unless the guy was disrespectful and was some creep who was blind to see that the woman was not interested...

...but that's a whole other type of situation.. that becomes harrassment.

Unless the guy has some mental disorder, no.

Then I think we can safely say that the comments on women with male friends deluding themselves about the basis of the frienship aren't true. There are too many variables to stuff a man or a woman into a box of set notions.

If I were to find myself attracted to a male friend or suspect he was attracted to me, if I turned to a male friend for emotional support, if the friendship was becoming too intimately intense...I would not have a friendship, I would have a problem.