Starting in kindergarten, girls and boys share a love-hate relationship.  While as children the two sexes keep far apart and swear off ever straying into the other team, things change by the time we grow up.  Romance seems to surface between men and women when the two spend enough time together, or so say some.  According to others, men and women can sustain a strictly platonic relationship all throughout life.

Friendships are a crucial part of everyone’s life.  As in any other relationship, friendships have their high points as well as times when the connection between the two individuals weakens.  While same-sex friendships take a lot of work to maintain over a significant period of time, opposite-sex friendships require even more effort in order to diminish any uncertainty about the extent of the friendship.

The Meaning of Platonic

The dictionary definition of a platonic relationship, also known as platonic love, is "an affectionate relationship between two people of the opposite sex, where there is no sexual element, although there could be the possibility for it."  It is love based on the beauty of a person’s character and intelligence, not the appearance.

Fact or Fiction?

The world seems to be equally divided when it comes to believing in platonic relationships.  These relationships seem to be more complicated than any other and they carry a certain amount of ambiguity of the sexual charge between the two individuals.

Some say that it is much easier for a woman to maintain a platonic relationship.  While the ladies are able to look at a guy as just a friend, men run the risk of thinking of their female friend in a sexual way.  Men are likely to develop a desire that could ultimately, if acted upon, ruin the friendship.

Do platonic relationships exist -- in my opinion?  Yes, they do and no, they do not.  The possibility of a platonic relationship depends entirely on the situation.

A Simple Scenario

Did the friendship form while both or at least one party was single?  As cold and shallow as it sounds, nine times out of 10 we physically evaluate with whom we form bonds when we are single (not a scientific statistic).  I do not say this out of desperation; rather it is a matter of genetics.  When we are single, we tend to look for a partner.  If the friendship was formed in one of these times, there is a chance that physical attraction exists between the two.  Once this attraction is acted upon, the relationship is no longer just friendship, it is not platonic.

Thus the relationship can only be platonic if the two people involved can strictly be friends.  Basically, the question “why are we just friends?” must never arise!

The Benefits of Platonic Friendships

We’ve all heard of friends with benefits – but platonic friends with benefits?  Could such a thing exist?  Sure it can!

• In a platonic relationship, men and women get a closer look at each others’ personalities and they can understand the other gender better.
  
• You can get quality advice from your platonic friend that you just can’t get from one of the same sex.
  
• Your platonic friend has many guy/girl friends – so you will always have a chance to meet someone!

The Reality
 
If platonic relationships sound so good, why aren’t there more of them in this world?  Simple – in many instances, platonic relationships prove to be nothing but a waiting period for the right moment to arise to ask someone out.

Thus, platonic friendships almost always turn out to be mission impossible.  I still believe that platonic relationships can be developed with a lot of care.  As long as there is full honesty, a strong person will be able to suppress sexual desires and a natural connection can be achieved.

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let’s just be friends

I would like to bring some attention to the title of these opposite-sex friendships.  People sometimes regard any sort of connection between a man and a woman as platonic, be that sexual or business-related.  The fact is that as soon as romance or sexuality enters the picture – well then, the connection is no longer platonic.  It is very important to keep the purity of the situation in mind and to use this term in accordance.