It’s typical for females to have mostly female friends and for males to have mostly male friends. Some people even think it’s impossible to have a purely platonic friendship with someone of the opposite gender. This idea might be perpetuated by the countless movies and TV shows that depict friends who end up falling in love with each other. There was Ross and Rachel, Zoey and Chase, Lizzie and Gordo, and a billion more. The list could go on forever.

People always assume that there has to be something going on between two people of the opposite sex, like it’s impossible for them to actually be just friends. At least one of them must be in love with the other because that’s just how it works.

The people who think that could not be more wrong. Perhaps for some people it is harder to form these kinds of friendships, but I feel as though our culture makes it more difficult for people to be comfortable with platonic female/male relationships. Romance is constantly shoved down our throats by the media. People are automatically assumed to be dating someone if they are seen together. Even if they swear that they are just friends, people continue to tease them or simply assume there’s something more going on.

To be fair, sometimes the rumors are true. Friends do fall in love all the time. The person I’m dating now was my friend beforehand, which actually made our relationship stronger. The best relationships are usually based off of a foundational friendship.

To be honest, most of my relationships with males have either been romantic or on an acquaintance level. This is simply because most guys aren’t interested in being just friends with girls. However, the few platonic friendships I’ve witnessed and had have been some of the most special ones.

It’s so fun to be able to give my best guy friend advice on his dating life. Instead of him having to rely on his other dumb guy friends to tell him what to do about his new girl, he can just ask me. He can ask me what to get girls for presents, where to take them to dinner, and what cologne actually smells nice.

My relationship with him wasn’t always platonic, but we realized that dating each other definitely wasn’t for us. With that mystery out of the way, we can be friends without any awkward tension or “what if” questions in our heads.

He’s always been sure to check that my boyfriend is okay with us having lunch together literally every Wednesday. And he is because he trusts that our relationship is what we say it is.

My boyfriend’s best friend is a girl, and he’s always been the type to have more girl friends than guy friends. Of course, the idea was a bit weird at first and it took me awhile to get used to. Both of our families even found it weird that he only has girl friends. But those relationships are really strong and special to him, and I really don’t see why it’s a problem.

The amount of people I’ve known that don’t let their significant others hang out with the opposite gender is absolutely ridiculous. If you don’t have enough trust in your partner for them to not cheat on you, that’s an internal issue of your entire relationship.

Even though they’re rare, platonic relationships are some of the most special and the most interesting. I would even argue that they are important. I feel bad for the people who can’t allow themselves or their partners to have one.