Yes, men and women can be friends. I have had male friends since my early teens, I could not survive without them. But there is a very clear line – if you’re interested sexually in each other, or have been at some point: no go. The men I partner with and those i befriend belong to a different tribe for sure.

Yes, but the women will be turning the men down repeatedly and if the woman EVER opens the door to what might be, it’s on. It’s just nature.

Tough question. I enjoy having male friends but I have to say the flirting is always there and that’s what makes the friendships feel different and sometimes more satisfying than with women.
Oh my God, I’m terrible!

Question: it’s not clear to me from the posting that he made a *forcible* move on you. If he just tried to be romantic then I guess you can’t blame the guy for trying. People harbor secret feelings. But if you rebuffed him, then I hope he stayed rebuffed. If it happened differently, ok. But I don’t like to see the word “rape” thrown around.

Men and women can be friends. I have a lot of male friends. But…I have Venus in Aquarius and Sun in 11th house, so for me, friendship is what it’s all about. Gender doesn’t really come into it.

Sorry you had that experience. I guess I agree that Pluto’s transit in some house v. other houses would affect my answer for this. Each person is different but overall I’d say there’s an overtone of attraction in most platonic male-female relationships, and usually it’s only one member of the pair who has the feelings.

Yes, heterosexual men and women can be friends. And they can even be affectionate friends without sex always being an issue (or even being brought up). Some people may find this hard to believe, but sexual feelings are not the only urges that bring people together. I refuse to believe that I cannot befriend a person because he happens to have a penis. That’s not to say things don’t ever get a little complicated (particularly if you do have unattached friends while you yourself are unattached, and there’s an underlying attraction somewhere) but it doesn’t mean that the friendship is worthless or nonexistant. It means that it’s a friendship that requires clear boundaries. But yes, it’s possible.

I said ‘yes’, and I probably should ad ‘some’ women can be friends with ‘some men’.
It really depends on what the friendship is based on. I’ve been in romantic relationships that started in a a ‘friendly’ way, but there was always flirtation, and I also since my child years I had male friends, very good ones. It never happened to me that a strong friendship became a relationship.

“…overall I’d say there’s an overtone of attraction in most platonic male-female relationships, and usually it’s only one member of the pair who has the feelings”

True, and I find the best male/female friendships are where there is no strong sexual attraction on either side. But I’ve had all three kinds – no attraction, and attraction on one side or the other. I’ve even had very strong friendships with men who were in love with me over many years – a couple of those I’ve had to withdraw from for obvious reasons, so as not to cause more pain.

This doctor sounds an *rsehole – there are ways of showing you want to take a relationship further with a woman without putting her under pressure in your house; that’s inexcusable. It has happened to me – but always in my house rather than his. Mostly I’ve found it possible to remain friendly with the guy.

At least half of my really close friends have always been men. I’m a big flirt but I do try to send out clear signals if I know he’s attracted to me so we don’t end up in compromising situations which would affect the friendship. If I’m attracted to him, it’s not a problem as I wouldn’t run away – I’d give it a chance

Interestingly, on the few (?3/4) occasions I have ended up in bed with a good friend, we’ve not been able to get it on! We just know in the bones it’s not a good idea! – and his body responds accordingly, probably in response to reticence on my part…

I say yes, but it depends on so many factors. If there really is the one person wanting sex out of it, it’s not going to stay a friendship, it’s either going to become more or it’ll explode.

I have all sorts of friendships with men (and I’ve had friendships with some that were sort of similar of your experience, which always sucks and I hate those men for awhile). I have the gay guy friends, where there’s no sexual tension. I have a hetero friend who just loves having tons of friends but is very loyal to whomever he is seeing, and he knows I’m very not sexual and finds that a relief! So again, no sexual tension. However, I do have one manfriend who is very sexual, has slept with all his female friends except me, and there’s always that dissonance between us, but we’ve been close for 10 years. I trust he’d never do something like that, but then again ya just dunno.

I don’t really believe in ‘grey rape’, to me rape is rape, if you don’t want sexytime, then you don’t want it.

It all depends on the individuals and the situation… Each person’s ulterior motives and hidden agendas complete with their intentions must all come into play… Not a simple question with no simple answers…

Definitely can be friends but occasionally one person or the other can overstep boundaries… works great if the two people are happy with their lives and relationships.. and it’s a very safe and comfortable feeling to have friendships like that.