At an all-women’s college, it’s not exactly difficult to avoid seeing guys. But with Notre Dame across the street, it’s pretty easy to meet them and get to know them. And with meeting them comes that awkward space of deciding between the three option of wanting to: date them, run away from them, or, the most ignored option, just be their platonic friend. And honestly the third one is the best, especially for lasting relationships.
It’s funny how guy and girl friendships can get so confounded at college. Why is it that hanging out with someone of the opposite sex can pique so many peoples’ interests, questioning if the two are in a relationship? Why can’t we see it as a norm? Two friends of the opposite sex can be best friends without feeling one-sided attraction or the moments of sexual tension we only see on film and television shows.
There’s nothing wrong with friends of the opposite sex! They give different perspectives and they are nice to balance our personalities. Romance does not have to be involved. You can still have meaningful interactions with guys that you see as friends.
On that note; just because we’re friends with someone in a relationship doesn’t mean we are trying to steal our friend from their significant other! We’re not competing against them; it isn’t misery business. In fact, we often ship our guy friends with their girlfriends. There’s nothing that these girls should be worried about. We’re not trying to be threats, and we wouldn’t play games if we were interested in our taken guy friends.
Friendships are essential to surviving college. How can we even know how to date someone of the opposite sex if we don’t even know how to communicate with them as friends? I mean to say that there may be guy friends we are attracted to- that’s a perfectly normal thing to happen. But while we may be concerned or insecure about our feelings, they shouldn’t stop us from being friends with them. Because after all, opposite sex friends can do great things.