Cross-Sex Friendships

After discussing the different aspects of two good friends being the opposite sex, I became curious as to what people actually feel about the subject. Better yet, more about the challenges of it and how a relationship like that works. Personally, I've never been one to have very close friendships with girls. If I ever did, it would usually end up with the two of us dating. That was something I found very curious about my life because I had never thought about it before. There are friends I have that are girls and that I will text or communicate with, but I'd never hang out with them a lot unless we were a couple.

So, the real question that's poking around in my head is can men and women ever be "just friends?" Good thing I found an article entitled with that exact heading! My initial thinking is that yes, it is possible, but takes the right combination of people. To start off, the author also states that yes, it is completely possible for two people of the opposite sex to be just friends. What classifies you as just friends you may ask? Well according to the article, no dating and no sex. Which brings up the whole question of whether friends with benefits belongs in the "just friends" category, but hell, that's beside the point. Next, the article discusses the challenges that have to be overcome for cross-sex friendships to survive. First, we have the issue of how the couple portrays its relationship in public. You know, all that crap with people assuming you're mates or something. The author even goes as far to say that cross-sex relationships are "taboo" in society. I connected this with the topic of public presentation challenge discussed in class. Secondly, there comes the issue of sexual tension in the relationship. What I found particularly interesting was the idea that sexual tension could be a result of people constantly thinking that you're a couple when you're in public together. According to the article, some people may not even mind the tension or list as a benefit depending on the person. I guess your best friend thinking your sexually attractive is cool? Anyway, this directly correlates with the topic of sexual challenge.

Another fact I found interesting was that apparently research done on the topic show that a majority of cross-sex friendships survive even with unresolved feelings for one another. That, and the fact that you can actually go back to being friends even after you hook up? Wouldn't that be considered friends with benefits? Or is that a cross-sex friendship? Maybe I'm thinking about this a little too hard. Although it can be very confusing sometimes, I suppose that two people of the opposite sex can indeed be friends. Whether that's with benefits or not, I guess that's up to you.