Can Men and Women be Just Friends?

I’m blessed to feel connected to friends in San Diego. Of course, it took a half year to build a base of good folks in my day-to-day life and recently I’ve decided to add another element to my social life.Platonic male friends.Ok, some may say there is no such thing. There’s always a sexual undertone. Men and women of the opposite sex can’t be close without one or the other developing strong feelings and/or physical attraction which then kills any kind of friendship.Or can we be “just friends”? I think it’s complicated. Like all human interactions, it depends on the circumstances. Every situation is unique. What comes to mind most frequently as appropriate, normal and common are male/female work interactions especially when a member of the opposite sex is a mentor. In those cases, parties are coming together for a shared purpose and not just to build emotional intimacy.To have a successful friendship with a member of the opposite sex, I feel parties must enter into it honestly with mutual agreed upon expectations. If there is one sided physical attraction, then I feel it’s only right to discuss the nature of the relationship. If my male friend is partnered with another, then by all means I want to meet their significant other and have my friendship with him be an open part of that person’s life.If I feel that it’s needed, I tell guy friends that I’m not interested in dating and that I can only offer friendship. If I sense a guy is only around me with hopes that it gets physical and isn’t accepting of friendship, I back off a bit and they usually move on. But I have found that typically we stay in touch, and I feel good knowing I’m not hurting anyone.And there are many instances where two people may share a mutual physical attraction, but for a myriad of reasons such as both being in a committed relationship or needing time to heal from a previous one, parties may not want to date each other but in my view can still enjoy a friendship. My male friends give me a perspective on relationships and other issues which I truly appreciate.I have observed women lead male friends on for companionship. Sometimes they have a circle of men hoping for that opportunity to take things to a physical level. In fact, I admit that I used to have regular contact with men I knew I’d never date, knew wanted to date me but whose company and companionship I enjoyed.  And on the flip side, there are men that surround themselves with lots of women hoping one will eventually relent and agree to be physical.I now see this behavior from the women’s side as somewhat selfish and misleading but there is a reason why it occurs. I have found that a person who takes a physical interest in me is more likely to be supportive and there in a time of need than a same sex friend where there is no physical attraction. Is it just me that observes that phenomenon? This is a question that I’ve been pondering lately and led me to write this posting.I don’t think I’m going to discover any earth shattering conclusions on the nature and psychology of male/female relationships but my recent experiences prompted me to explore this topic and hopefully gain feedback from others who have had successful or unsuccessful platonic friendships with those that are of the opposite sex. What do you think? Can women and men be just friends?