Platonic friendships - do they exist?

paddyann54

I,ve been friends with a couple of men for decades.Never been anything but friends.
Sadly one met a woman who moved in with him and she stopped him visiting not just me but my OH who he has known since childhood.
They got married recently and she has decided he must cut all communication
He msgd my OH to say she disapproved of us ?A d that he wasn’t “allowed” to contact us He is still in touch with our 48 year old daughter ?She,s keeping us up to date with his health issues etc.
Some women are very odd…..Hes been the wee brother I never had for 50 years!

Do you know, I’m just thinking of another male friend I have (had?) whom I was going to visit in Barcelona, and he called me on Facetime so I could speak to his new lady friend. We chatted for a while, and made an arrangement to meet, which turned out to be unsuitable for Anna, as did the alternative date. Now, I didn’t want to ask why she had to come, but could it be that even my old, decrepit self was seen as a threat?
Ah well.

paddyann54

I,ve been friends with a couple of men for decades.Never been anything but friends.
Sadly one met a woman who moved in with him and she stopped him visiting not just me but my OH who he has known since childhood.
They got married recently and she has decided he must cut all communication
He msgd my OH to say she disapproved of us ?A d that he wasn’t “allowed” to contact us He is still in touch with our 48 year old daughter ?She,s keeping us up to date with his health issues etc.
Some women are very odd…..Hes been the wee brother I never had for 50 years!

I hope your daughter can stay in touch.
This rings warning bells.

I'm very good friends with one of my nephews and also with one BIL. We have lots of long deep conversations putting the world to rights. I've never ever thought of either of them romantically in any way though.

Perfectly possible. 3 boys were /are friends of mine from childhood. One sadly passed away suddenly last month. Been friends for 67 years. My longest friend since we were 3yrs old and only 4 days in age between us.....neighbours for 18 years....miss him. One person that knew my mum and dad nearly as long as me.

TwiceAsNice

I think it is perfectly possible to have a platonic friendship. I have had several in the past and have one now. Not been sexually attracted to any of them but have liked and admired them as people

Agree .. I have many photographer & journalist gentlemen from a wide variety of countries that fill my pdf magazine with amazing photography & extraordinary articles. We are not in any way, attracted to one another physically.

We admire one another for our artistic contributions and our sensitivities ..

paddyann54

I,ve been friends with a couple of men for decades.Never been anything but friends.
Sadly one met a woman who moved in with him and she stopped him visiting not just me but my OH who he has known since childhood.
They got married recently and she has decided he must cut all communication
He msgd my OH to say she disapproved of us ?A d that he wasn’t “allowed” to contact us He is still in touch with our 48 year old daughter ?She,s keeping us up to date with his health issues etc.
Some women are very odd…..Hes been the wee brother I never had for 50 years!

What an awful dreadfully controlling woman! Your friend really needs to be a bit stronger.

I couldn’t care less if my DH didn’t care for my friends, I would still see them and ditto for him.

paddyann54

I,ve been friends with a couple of men for decades.Never been anything but friends.
Sadly one met a woman who moved in with him and she stopped him visiting not just me but my OH who he has known since childhood.
They got married recently and she has decided he must cut all communication
He msgd my OH to say she disapproved of us ?A d that he wasn’t “allowed” to contact us He is still in touch with our 48 year old daughter ?She,s keeping us up to date with his health issues etc.
Some women are very odd…..Hes been the wee brother I never had for 50 years!

What a shame. Obviously very jealous, or doesn’t trust him. Or you!

I,ve been friends with a couple of men for decades.Never been anything but friends.
Sadly one met a woman who moved in with him and she stopped him visiting not just me but my OH who he has known since childhood.
They got married recently and she has decided he must cut all communication
He msgd my OH to say she disapproved of us ?A d that he wasn’t “allowed” to contact us He is still in touch with our 48 year old daughter ?She,s keeping us up to date with his health issues etc.
Some women are very odd…..Hes been the wee brother I never had for 50 years!

I think it’s entirely possible for platonic relationships to exist, just as I think relationships exist successfully where one person is sexually attracted and one isn’t.

It’s possible for all kinds of platonic relationships to exist.

Yes
Had a couple of the years. Really good men. Great friends,very supportive and no sexual attraction.

Lot of good fond memories
Lucky me.

Of course you can have a platonic friendship with a member of the opposite sex. I have had quite a few over the years, but I have also experienced a couple of what I thought were platonic friendships but the guy obviously wanted it to be something more. I dealt with it..

I have three close male friends, all married. I am also friends with the wives of two of them though our paths don’t cross as often. I got to know them through groups I belong to. Entirely platonic.

Well said Kitty 👍

You must have the most enormous self confidence kittylester! 🤣🤣🤣

I was talking to my dear male friend yesterday. We will both be 80 this year. We met at work when we were 18. I love him as a brother.

Of course they do. If you're a couple and you mix with other people who are couples, are they not BOTH your friends?

And I for one wouldn't be thinking of dismissing 50% of the population as potential friends just because they're not the same gender.

This is 2026 not 1826.

I have platonic male friends, some I've known for well over 60 years. There's never been anything beside friendship and respect.

Yeah I think platonic friendships are possible.
To say otherwise, to me it goes against the whole equality / #Metoo thing. If we can't have friendships with men who we've known for years & have lots in common with, where both should know the other isn't interested in romance, that's cos we haven't got past feeling / being viewed in our traditional roles.
If cats can be friends with ducklings & humans can be friends with dogs, why can't women be friends with men?

I have several platonic friendships, one going back more than sixty years, based on shared interests or experiences. In my eyes, and they are all of my generation, they are attractive women, but our friendships do not depend on me being attracted to them, or them to me, whatever that actually means with the advancing years. We just get on well!

I’ve had a few friend ships like this,or so I thought. Years down the line one of them said I always fancied you which really I felt quite strange about.
Today, some people seem to have these friendships called F—k buddies. No I wouldn’t fancy that at all. Each to their own.

I have had platonic friendships with many men, both straight and gay.

Strictly speaking I could describe any relationship to any of my women friends as platonic too, as we are certainly not sexually attracted or attractive to each other.

I have had a few platonic friends, my first day at work I met someone who always had my back and looked after me. His first wife and my husband excepted our friendship. But after divorce his 2nd wife said we couldn’t be friends.
Also another lifelong friend him and his wife were always great friends with me and my husband for over 40 years. Until my husband died and both him and his wife withdrew all contact.
People have said she saw me as a threat but definitely not on my side!

It’s a shame your friend thinks this. I had a friendship for years with lovely man who was straight.

I have had platonic friendships as well, perfectly acceptable no sexual attraction on either side. It's good to have a wide range of friends and hear differing views on life.

Exactly Kittylester good point!