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?

Hahaha good one, no one's mentioned that yet.

And did you comment on each one??? 👏

Th we re used to be a guy in the lab in college who couldn’t look at women, it was horrendous the lengths he went to to not talk. He was otherwise a funny lovely guy and a few of us used to try to get him to talk but no luck. Also in the country you get a lot of eg male mechanics who don’t know how to talk to women, it’s scaryI personally think all schools should be mixed, but I’ve known a few mums who send their girls to girls only because of distractions. Ours go to all boys and I think it’s be so much easier for them in a mixed school, especially when not sporty, the quiet boys definitely are disadvantaged

My friendship group is mixed sex. I think its really healthy.

Yes, I think it's healthy to have all different kinds of friends, not just mixed sex, but also friends from different backgrounds to you.

I've met men in their 40s who are clueless about how to relate to women.

I've met plenty of both sexes who have an immovable "men are from mars, women from venus" mentality.

They tend to be very small-minded in lots of other ways too. Not very interesting to be around, quite honestly.

First post nails it.

YABU - if you'd said both I'd agree with you.

Yes to both sexes, no matter their orientation.

My DS1 was a shy young man and had to change schools to do the A levels he wanted. Best thing he did, he was suddenly friends with 8 girls who looked after him and, eventually, he started dating one of these girls. His confidence grew and, as a result, his male circle of friends also grew. He’s now a senior manager and, I’ll always be grateful to those lovely girls.

I’m nostalgic for the days when ‘gender’ was connected in my head only to the foreign language nouns - M, F, N - I had to learn.