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> My friend and I have a theory that a significant chunk of the problems mentioned in the article could be solved if every guy had a genuine platonic friend who
by andyjohnson0 3y ago
> My friend and I have a theory that a significant chunk of the problems mentioned in the article could be solved if every guy had a genuine platonic friend who is a girl.
I suspect that the causation might be reversed. In other words, men who women want to be friends with may have the personality attributes that allow them to express their masculinity in non-problematic and easeful ways.
- kredd 3y agoI don’t buy that given I went to middle/high school in very backward-ass region, but we all managed to be friends. It’s something that needs to be cultivated from the early childhood. I agree that it is much harder to reinforce it later in life. Again, not a lot of data points, just a few looking at my other friends with no female friends. And the way my nephews are growing up and talking about girls in their pre-teen/teen years.
- andyjohnson0 3y agoQuite a lot of resort to anecdote there, tbh. I guess I was thinking of adult platonic relationships, not those of children. As a parent I've seen that school is something of a special case: kids grow up together in a pre-existing school community, with some necessity to get along, and with adults (ie teachers) on hand to enforce rules. Quite different to the environment that most adults exist in. I do agree on the necessity to cultivate friendship skills between sexes though.