“If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, it may explain at least one of their shared beliefs: Men and women can’t be real friends,” wrote Camille Chatterjee from psychologytoday.com
Contrary to this saying and “belief” that men and women are from different planets, different psychologists and relationship experts dug deep into this. Most have expressed that since men and women now share similar hobbies and socialize together more often than not, the ability to just be friends is higher than ever before.
But just because it’s possible for men and women to be friends, does that mean it’s possible for YOU to just be friends with the men in your life that you’re close to? In today’s society and in college communities, it can be extremely difficult to figure out what a close friendship with a guy means. So you care a lot about them and you think about them – does that mean you’re into them? You hang out a lot and have the same interests – does that mean you’re suppose to be together?
It can be extremely tricky to distinguish what feelings mean and how to interpret them, especially when you’re in a deep, platonic relationship with this guy. We have had crushes going as far back as pre-school on the cute boys in class. We have learned from such a young age that boys are entirely different, but worth going for.
So how do you know, and what do you do if you don’t know how you feel? Well, we unfortunately can’t answer for all specific situations and friendships, but there are a few things to take note of when trying to determine how you feel.
1. If you imagine him dating someone else, how does that make you feel? If there’s a pang of jealousy, you may want to think about why that jealosy is there. Perhaps you’re the one you think he should be with instead? In the words of Taylor Swift… “you belong with meeeee”