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AIBU?

to think men and woman can be just friends?

40 replies

wheresthel1ght · 19/04/2016 21:20

I might be being exceptionally naive however have just had a very bizarre conversation with a friend and am now questioning if I am being stupid or if she really is being unreasonable.

15 years ago I worked for a company that had several sites around the world but their main production and research facility was uk based. 2 factories, 1 in London and 1 in the Midlands. I worked in the Midlands office but spent most of my time working with colleagues in our London office. Several used to be at our site at least 2 nights a week. Here was a group of us who used to go out for meals/drinking and dancing in the local club. Mix of men and women, single and married. Nothing ever more than friends having a good night out.

I left the company many years a go but have always stayed in touch with A couple of the guys from the London office. Every so often they are still in my local city for meetings etc and will text or call to see if I am free. We all have spouses/partners and all have kids. Today I received such a message from one of the guys.

My female friend has now messages asking if I am free on the same night as my male friend is in town so I have told her I'm not as I have plans with male friend. She has basically accused me of being a Trollope and said one/other of us is obviously interested in sex as that is the only reason we would meet up and she is disgusted my partner has agreed to me going out.

My partner has never met this guy. however I have talked about him, he has rung when dp is about, dp is fully aware of the friendship and the history and it has never occurred to him to be jealous or suspicious.

Dp is going away for a weekend on June with a mix of male and female friends, I am not going as it is related to his hobby which quite frankly bores me to tears! It would never occur to me to stop him or be suspicious.

So Aibu to think my friend has lost the plot and that men and women can actually be platonic friends??

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blueshoes · 19/04/2016 22:56

I think to stay friends with men, especially those I meet after I got married, I have to be careful never to give out wrong or mixed signals.

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Alisvolatpropiis · 19/04/2016 22:51

Yanbu

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Oysterbabe · 19/04/2016 22:49

I have a few very close male friends who I've known since uni, 16 years ago. We're all happily married with children. I'm 100% certain none of them want to shag me.

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MissingHome22 · 19/04/2016 22:45

I have quite a few make friends gay and straight. No suggestion of anything other than friendship. My partner has good female friends too. I admit I'm less comfortable with his female friend who is a stunning glamour model but I know that's my issue so try not to be jealous about it.

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Pinkheart5915 · 19/04/2016 22:43

I think men and woman can be very good friends.
Some of my best friend are men and my dh has many female friends

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VestalVirgin · 19/04/2016 22:41

I used to think that women and men could just be friends.

However, most men do not seem to believe that.

To this day, I have no close male friends. Acquaintances, yes, but no friends. All men who wanted to spend more time with me turned out to be after sex.

It is rather depressing.

I am sure women can be just friends with men. I am not as sure for the other way round. Perhaps if the man is gay.

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expatinscotland · 19/04/2016 22:36

Of course they can.

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ABetaDad1 · 19/04/2016 22:31

wheresthelight - I think I mean you have to be aware of context.

I have no issue at all with DW having male friends and likewise she has no issue with my female friends but all of them are respectively people who we naturally met through work, spouses of friends, people who share a hobby.

I think it would be a bit odd for me to say just start chatting to a woman in a pub or whatever and randomly becoming friends with her for no obvious connection other than we just happened to get on. I wouldn't do it.

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Uncoping · 19/04/2016 22:30

My best friend in the world is a man.

A ginger, spotty, lanky horrible prick of a human being.

But I love him to death & he is my best friend.

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NeedAScarfForMyGiraffe · 19/04/2016 22:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wheresthel1ght · 19/04/2016 22:14

Ex that did make me chuckle!

My very best friend in the whole world is a bloke, we have been friends since we were 2 (nearly 40 now).

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exLtEveDallas · 19/04/2016 22:11

After spending most of my adult life in the company of men, I'd be astounded to be told that I couldn't just be friends with any of them.

I have a few female friends, a couple of gay friends of both sexes and loads of male friends. The friend I trust most in the world and who I would turn to if something terrible happened is a man. A married man at that.

(Although, I have to admit, my very very best friend is probably my dog Smile)

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Rarotonga · 19/04/2016 22:08

How rude of your friend, of course men and women can just be friends!

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wheresthel1ght · 19/04/2016 22:05

Abeta can you explain? Why are random friends any different to anyone else? Why would a random be more inclined to fancy me than someone I have known and worked with for years?
Not attacking just genuinely curious as to why you differentiate in this way

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KidLorneRoll · 19/04/2016 22:03

Yes, of course they can.

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ABetaDad1 · 19/04/2016 21:57

I think you can be friends with the opposite sex if they are work colleagues, people you share a hobby or interest with, church group, spouses of your same sex friends, etc. but it gets a bit more difficult if they are just people you have randomly met.

You are never sure if they are friends or they intend to be more than friends.

DW knows all my female friends anyway and that is perhaps another acid test.

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wheresthel1ght · 19/04/2016 21:56

To be honest most of my friends are blokes! I have 3 close female friends and then batshit friend. We aren't as close but she is normally a lovely person. Not sure she appreciated me telling her I thought she was bonkers and that I had never and would never as k permission to see my friends and if dp even hinted he wasn't going to "allow" it then he would be out the door wth his bags packed before he knew who had hit him!!

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UmbongoUnchained · 19/04/2016 21:53

My closest most dear friend is a man.

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wheresthel1ght · 19/04/2016 21:52

Boulevard - my DM is the same! although ironically when my exh accused me of sleeping with a male friend she gave him a huge lecture about it being possible for men and women to be friends!

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Mysteryfla · 19/04/2016 21:48

Of course they can. I've had a couple of good male friends for close to 45 years.

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BoulevardOfBrokenSleep · 19/04/2016 21:48

I did a male-dominated subject at uni, worked a decade in a male-dominated field, and am currently doing a male-dominated hobby.

Unsurprisingly, a large number of my friends are male (I'm married).

It's never really been a problem for me; but since I've joined MN, I have learned the term 'emotional affair', and struggled with knowing the difference between that and having a close male friend. To be fair, I'm not fantastic with social cues and norms at the best of times.

I dunno, I think if you asked in Relationships you'd get a different answer.

Certainly, my DM is very big on, 'But what does DH think about you talking to him/going there/drinking that?' Hmm

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Oysterbabe · 19/04/2016 21:46

TLDR but yes of course they can.

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wheresthel1ght · 19/04/2016 21:45

I daren't tell her that I once spent a week in Dublin with a male friend after his marriage collapsed and my fiancé ditches me for someone else. We even shared a hotel room (twin beds) cos the hotel screwed up the booking and then had no other rooms available!

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wheresthel1ght · 19/04/2016 21:43

Thank god I thought I was about to get flamed for not seeing the issue!!

Sonly can I ask why you feel that way?

And yes said friend is batshit over a variety of things! She has a very old fashioned outlook on all sorts of random things - think women wearing trousers etc. But she is genuinely lovely normally!

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MrsMook · 19/04/2016 21:40

One of my best friends is male. I actually matched him up to his wife. He's one of DH's best friends too mutually through the same circle of friends. When he was single, on several occasions he had annual leave to use and I was free on school holidays while DH was busy, so we went of hiking and camping together as we were both free.

No chemistry between us, we're just good friends that share a hobby and happen to be of the opposite sex.

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