I was thinking on this topic while watching one of my favorite movies last night, When Harry Met Sally and thought I would ask the audience what they think. Can men and women just be friends, or does sex get in the way?
Men and women seem biologically programmed to want to have sex with each other, and even if you're not having sex, the possibility that you could have it, can create tension among the sexes. I've been plagued with this question for awhile now, and am honestly curious to hear what people think, because I don't have the answer. I think a situation in which this can work is if the two friends are already in relationships with other people, or aren't even the least bit attracted to each other. But in many cases, at least one of the parties seems to be attracted to the other, and if that's the case then that man or woman will pursue the other and quickly cause tension in the friendship. I've had a lot of situations in my life where this tension is created in a friendship that I purely wanted to stay a friendship.
It's hard to bounce back once the cat's out of the bag, even if you don't have sex; but if you do have sex, in my experience, either I become emotional and the man withdraws or the man becomes emotional and I get scared away. Even if you do stay friends, it changes things... like you know a dark secret about the other person that you wish you didn't know. It's really hard, impossible even, to go back to the way things were before the sex happened and feelings got involved. In some cases, the best case scenario, the man and woman go on to have a committed relationship where they share their lives together, and have a foolproof relationship that was founded on friendship.
I'll let you decide. Share your thoughts in the comments below!