Excelle

Does anyone really have a platonic relationship with the opposite sex? I have never once had one with a straight man.  They always end up wanting to date me or possibly that was the goal all along.  I posted this because up until last Thanksgiving I thought I had a platonic relationship with a guy friend since we were in high school. But he confessed to me that he was and still is interested in me after all these years.  Its really up setting.  I would like to have at least one male friend as I tend to get a long better with men than women due to my bluntness. 

So basically I'd like to know do you have a platonic relationship and how do you keep it that way?

I understand, just in general,  I've always gotten along better with men than I have with most women.  In my younger days, I prided myself on being "one of the boys".  In my business,  I am often the only woman in a room full of men - most of my long standing "work" relationships are with men - but - there's a balance - that has to be maintained and I'd say that's also true in personal relationships (friendships) with men. 

It's a wonderful thing when you have a friend who "gets" you and is a pal... when he takes a left turn -- it's disorienting -- but - understandable, yes?  So -- take a break from your friend and give him some time - it had to be difficult for him to confess his feelings and afterall, we're always complaining that the men in our lives don't share enough ... it may be you guys won't be able to recover from the "awkward" moment - but - you never know - you both just might find a way to move past it too.

Hope this helps - good luck.

I guess I have never really thought about this before, but I just realized that men that I consider my friends, are really my significant other's friends, and I usually hang out with the wives and girlfriends, or my SO's sisters. I do not hang out or talk on the phone to any of these men either, and they feel more like acquaintances. I remember in HS that I had quite a few guy friends, but now it makes me wonder, were they just my friends or was it more than that to them, or did they hope it would be? I did not stay in touch with any of them anyways. I also found that no matter what relationship I was in, my SO would never seem quite comfortable with guy friends or acquaitances either, even though I got along great with male co-workers. Now that I am older, not so much. I like most of my SO's friends and they are all very good to me and respectful, but I don't see myself just hanging out or talking without my SO there - funny, but I think it would be weird. If one of them were to stop at the house and Al was not home and they started to make a habit of coming by when he was not here, I would definately be thinking it was not platonic!

In my experience, platonic relationships certainly are possible... as long as YOU keep them platonic-no-matter-what.

Kristajgizzo I'm sorry I meant to say to you that if this guy is interested in you, you may not be able to keep him as a friend once you are in a relationship. The platonic friendship I thought I'd had for 8 years turned out to be in his mind building a relationship foundation.  One problem though he never shared this with me. We were like Harry and Sally. We talked about everything all the time. And when we even approached the topic of intimate involvement he would say I was too much to handle and if he thought he could handle me he'd love to get involved but we make better friends. Which was also okay with me. Well I met someone and when I told him about the other person-it got very complicated, sticky and uncomfortable. Not to mention how shocked I was that he was now professing his love to me. A little late in the game....additionally I miss his friendship dearly.  So in your case you already know this guy has and has had an interest in you for years. It may not be good for either of you to stay in the friendship. He will continue to hold out hope and when you get involved with someone he will feel hurt and your friendship will inevitably end. Perhaps once he's found someone you can rebuild the friendship. Or maybe just create some distance so you can still be friends but he will still be looking for love elsewhere. Just a thought.....

I have many male friends and have always had male friends. I get along very well with men in business. In fact, that is one of my strong points. Men and women see me first as a decision maker. They see me as one who takes charge. Just because we are of the opposite sex should, in no way, mean we should see ourselves as anything other than individuals first.

How we carry ourselves, usually determines how others, men or women, will react to us. Carry yourself as a lady and you will be treated as a lady, even in the boardroom. You will be seen as a professional first.