Nonromantic Relationships
Men and women in non-romantic relationships
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“Men and Women just can not be friends”
Exactly how often have you heard that expression since you were approximately 15 years old? Some people don’t understand why we are making such a big deal about it anyway.
But before we start, it is important to define what friendship really is. A friend, as Walter Winchell says is “one who walks in when others walk out". Within our life we like a lot of people but just a few people can really become our friends. There is a fine distinction between people we know occasionally and friends we have. A friend is a person who also understands our silence. A person who gives us support and whom we trust with our deepest feelings. A true friend is not talking behind ones back. Neither does he leave you alone when you need him the most. A friend is a person you share happy and sad times.
But when do friendship end and a romantic relationship begin? Kissing and hugging a friend occasionally might be considered as normal within western cultures. But is it the same in other cultures? Is it okay for friends to do a little bit more than kissing? Is there still friendship after two people have slept with each other?
Nowadays, we are thinking of friends as two people to share interest but not beds. They are not in a romantic relationship at all. Yet, there is no clear definition about friendship when it comes to sexuality.
However, from the biological point of view boys become men and girls become women after puberty. When kids are around seven years old they tend to play with members of their own sex only. Boys are stupid and girls are nerds. But this attitude changes a little bit between the ages of eight to twelve. Boys and girls are playing together and nobody is worried about it.
Yet, with the onset of puberty girls don’t see boys as their playmates anymore. To girls, boys start to become potential boyfriends. Boys, on the other side, start to see girls, as more than...
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