To think having friends of all genders is healthy

[Annettte]

This occurred to me as I was talking to a friend who's son recently did his 1st year at college. I know the young man in question & he's really blossomed since going away. After growing up shy and not fitting in, all boys school, very male environments he's now got a good circle, female as well as male. I've met men in their 40s who are clueless about how to relate to women. Some of them honestly seem terrified of women. I don't know why. Wouldn't the world be a better, more empathetic place, if we all knew each other a bit better?

I think the points been made now the Ops meant sex not gender let's not derail the thread with repetitive posts.

I think it's very healthy to have friends of both sexes.

You usually find the opposite answer of MN where husbands are absolutely NOT allowed to have female friends, and I've found it to be true in real life to some extent. I had a large group of male friends, I now only am in regular touch with a handful. The rest i dont see because their wives dont like a female being in a male group and find it weird (this is known not assumption)
And best friends with one.

I also had a big mixed group of uni friends. We are all still close, but I do tend to see 2 or 3 of the women more than the men. Though we all are in contact every day or 2. In fact my DHs BF is one of my old uni flatmates (he's still my good friend too)
But I will see or talk to the guys every week or so.

Meeting friends in later life it has tended to be more women for me.

I went to all mixed schools, lived in mixed dorms and houses at uni and did mixed sports

DH went to all boys school, lived with blokes at uni and was a rugby arsehole.
He also only had brothers. Until he met me he had no female friends. He now does, he met some through me, he is very friendly with one of my friends, they like the same sport and other hobbies and work in the same industry. So will socialise without me. He's also made some other female friends through coaching. Its good for him. I like how he can see a more female perspective, and not just think its my personality.

Not to a lot of people on here, any time I point out on one of the many threads about loneliness that they would double their chances of making friends if they didn’t discount half the human race.

As you get older yes. When younger, probably too much sexual tension around to be 100% just friends.

Nope. DH has male friends and I have female friends. We have combined couple friends but I don't have direct contact (calling, texting, individual meet ups) with the husbands, only the wives.

Can I just say one thing ( I had a whole thread about it). I am in my 50s and find some of my older male friends are just getting distant or don't care. They seem to be less social with everyone, not just women.

I was just going to say the same thing. If the thread read friends with both sexes but I’m not up for all the other nonsense. I’ve got lots of friends of both sexes doesn’t everyone nowadays?

You're right, if we all had friends of many genders the world would be a much more understanding place

Astonishing the number of people on this thread who want to tell OP what she meant. Do you not think you're being a tad arrogant?

(Edited to add that I missed where OP clarified, so fair enough. Still think it was arrogant to be correcting them in the first place, though.)

I think it's better and I've also always preferred mixed workplaces.

Yes, I have male and female friends.

I dunno you know - i feel like a man that has a friend group of both men and women would be secretly in love with one of them

Plus some women are so manipulative and spiteful, I feel like if you were to date a guy like this, youd be on the end of some spiteful mickey taking and him running to them everytime there's a problem 🤷‍♀️

Men aren't great but I dunno 😕

This.

Saw your title and thought you meant we should all befriend someone with pink hair and their own flag to be inclusive.

Thinking about it I do have a few friends who meet this description...

Why didn't you say "both genders", then? "ALL genders" just sounds daft.

Given the recent Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, I’d say it was important to correct any muddle, or to inform people who live under a rock and think ‘gender’ is a ‘nicer’ way of saying ‘sex’

I only really have female friends, except a few men who I know mostly through their partners (I am on good terms with them but never see them on their own outside of couple meet ups). And some men I know through work or hobbies, but oniy ever see them through work or hobby-related events and in groups.
Most of my female friends are the same tbh. I don't think opposite sex friendships are that common, at least in my social circle. All of us seem quite happy and healthy.

Given OP's clarification, on this particular thread, yes. But gender non-conformism, had that been what OP was getting at, is not a 'muddle'.

To get back to actually answering the question, I couldn't agree more, OP. I think it's a shame (and very retrograde, limited thinking) that women who have male friends are routinely sneered at on MN as 'cool girls' and 'pick-me's'.

Not repeatedly though it's just rude and makes for a very boring thread when posters pompously pile on with their I think you meant sex not gender Op.

MN is nothing if not predictable; I knew before I even opened the thread that 90% or responses would be "ermm akshually don't you mean BOTH BIOLOGICAL SEXES!?!?!?!?!?!" 🤣

And you don’t think it’s a good thing that one internet space hasn’t confused ‘gender’ and biological sex?

This; I think there's a huge difference between someone who has male friends, and someone who won't stop going on about how "I don't get along with women, I'm basically one of the guys, I'm just such good friends with so many men because women are too bitchy" (the epitome of a pick me).

Think of it as a teaching moment.

I'm going to hold your hand while I tell you this; I don't care, and nor do the vast majority of people outside the Mumsnet bubble.

We don't need pages of repeats do we
Or are you deliberately trying to derail the Ops thread ?
We get it it's SEX not GENDER.