Men And Women Can Be Close Platonic Friends.

I have a husband who I have been married to for many years, and whom I love with all my heart.

However, I also have a male friend who I am very close to.

People accuse us of all kinds of crazy things when they find out we have been talking.

These people believe that you shouldn't be friends with the opposite sex when you are married.

I've written this to debunk that myth.

It may be a shock to the system for some people (and some, probably won't believe me, but I don't have to care!).

I have never kissed or had any form of intimacy with this male friend.

We talk in confidence, laugh, joke, and connect on a deep basis, though we are not in a relationship with each other.

We even give each other online hugs out of friendship, and we have a lot in common.

It isn't a sin to care about your friends. I am bisexual, yet I never get accused of having affairs with women, though I could if I wanted to.

I don't because I believe that one should never cheat in a relationship. Cheating is not love, nor would that be respectful to my friends.

I used to hate men because I was a victim of abuse in my friendships and relationships; though some were female, men abused me too, often together with those females, and eventually, I hated both for a very long time, until I married my husband who helped me to regain my confidence.

I had both female and male friends at school and as a school-leaver. I spent a lot of time going to dances, parks, and clubs with those friends.

I spent decades regaining my trust after abuse, and it was a male who took my hand and helped me through it. He made me realize not all men were the same, but it took me longer to trust women again.

I talk to this friend online because we live quite away from each other, and because we are often too busy to see each other offline.

I have another male friend who I see around and talk to offline. We often meet at our local shops, and we talk as if we have known each other forever, though we have only been talking for a year.

Again, it is purely platonic.

Sometimes, we give each other a friendship hug, and everyone goes crazy thinking we are having an affair.

It is perfectly normal to give your friends hugs!

I am a warm-hearted person who loves giving hugs, but I reserve them for the best people. I don't hug everybody!

We have to stop this silly notion that men and women can't be just friends.

There are many people like myself, who have been traumatized by a loved one's affair, and I can empathize with that because I have been through it myself; however,

tarnishing everyone with the same brush is unfair and it hurts those who are innocent.

My husband used to work in a female-dominated environment; as a result, he has a lot of close female friends.

Those friends are nice people, and worthy of trust just as my male friends are.

It is hard to trust when you have been hurt, but your pain does not have to become everybody else's pain

Friendship, whether male or female is just as much about trust as the man or woman you are involved with.

Of course, we have to be aware of who we bother with in this world, and we have a right to protect ourselves and those we love, but it is going a step too far when people jump to assumptions constantly, just because a man and a woman are friends;

particularly in a world where relationships are no longer black and white.