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Article:
Can Men And Women Be Friends? Or When Harry Met Sally Did He Really Just Want to Jump Her Bones? by: Michael Ferrell Men and women can't really be just friends, can they? Of course not. There's always that pesky sexual tension to contend with. And what about the spouse, spousal equivalent, or boyfriend/girlfriend who's sure to be jealous? Plus, there's the biological/sociological nesting imperative that women contend with and the hunting imperative that seems to drive men. A number of years ago, a landmark study published by Dr. Don O'Meara, a sociology professor at Raymond Walters College, identified the following four key obstacles to the success of male-female friendships The inability to define the relationship A fear of confronting feelings of sexual attraction The inability of both partners to see each other as equals Society's response to a non-romantic relationship (This is all of the above rolled into one: What's going on here? Who do they think they are? They just won't admit that they're hot for each other!) Let's face it, when you come right down to it '“ there are just too many impediments and too many inherent differences between the sexes for cross-gender friendship to work. Right? Wrong, wrong, and double-wrong '“ at least in today's world. Fifty years ago, when Harry met Sally, he was a breadwinner who worked outside the home and she was a stay-at-home mom (or stay-at-home spinster). Harry and Sally had very little in common and very few opportunities to explore their commonality. Their paths never crossed except at a church social, perhaps, or in situations that were specifically created to foster romance and, by extension, procreation and the continuation of the species. (Not the stuff sonnets are made of, perhaps, but good for society.) That was then. This is now. 21st Century men and women follow their passions inside and outside the home and stand shoulder to shoulder as equals in most situations. In '2002
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