This Week's Topic:

Is platonic even a thing?

Or should I say...

Can guys and girls really be just friends?

The conclusion?

Yes.

The argument?

No, nope and never

Well... according to the internet, anyway.

There are approximately three things Gen Z can never agree on: pineapple on pizza, whether millennials should be using slang, and if men and women can exist in the same room without secretly plotting to start a dating scandal.

Personally, I find it fascinating, or rather entertaining?

We can debate this topic until we're blue in the face, produce PowerPoints, podcasts, TikTok think pieces, and have thirty-seven relationship "experts" from the comments section telling us that our partners are probably cheating.

...yet ask us to discuss the political state of the world, and suddenly everyone has somewhere else to be or seems to have lost their phones.

But then again, if we weren't completely and utterly unserious every now and then, this blog wouldn't have much to write about.

So thank you, Gen Z.

You never fail to keep me employed.

Now before someone starts typing a twelve-paragraph comment explaining how their best friend's cousin's roommate fell in love with his female best friend...

Relax.

I'm not saying it never happens.

I'm saying that it doesn't ALWAYS happen.

The real question isn't:

"Can guys and girls be friends?"

It's:

"Do you trust the person you're dating?"

Because if you trust your boyfriend enough to know your phone password, be logged into your social media account, hang out with your family's, and see you at your worst...

...shouldn't you also trust them enough to have a conversation with another girl/boy without acting like they're starring in the next season of Love Island?

And ladies and gentlemen...

If every woman/man around your boyfriend/girlfriend feels like competition, maybe the issue isn't the women/man.

Maybe it's the partner standing next to you.

Or maybe it's the fact that your relationship has less trust than a reality TV alliance or than your best friend saying they are over their ex.

Let's be honest.

We've become so obsessed with face cards that we've forgotten to check character references. We're out here treating "he's attractive" like it's a personality trait.

Newsflash:

Pretty people can still lie.

Pretty people can still cheat.

Pretty people can still waste your time.

Crazy concept, I know.

We spend hours making Pinterest boards titled My Future Babe, only to ignore every glaring red flag because they looked good in a black hoodie and knew how to make eye contact.

Ladies.

Stand up.

Gentlemen.

You too.

If you aren't evaluating your potential partner beyond how aesthetically pleasing they are, then don't act surprised when you find out they ran a full season of " lets cheat until I get caught" behind your back. Beauty gets someone through the front door. Character determines whether they deserve to stay inside.

Now, let's flip the script.

Imagine your partner tells you they have a friend of the opposite gender. Immediately, half the internet screams, "Absolutely not." or maybe " they are cheating" or even " they like each other"

Why?

Because somewhere along the line we've started assuming attraction automatically cancels out self-control. As if every friendship between a man and a woman is just a ticking time bomb waiting for one late-night "u up?" text.

That sounds less like romance...

...and more like a complete lack of emotional discipline LIKE STAND UP.

Mature people understand boundaries. They know when a joke goes too far. They know when a friendship starts making their partner uncomfortable. They know how to reassure the person they're with instead of dismissing their feelings.

And if someone crosses those boundaries?

Congratulations.

You haven't proven that guys and girls can't be friends.

You've simply proven that your partner lacks respect, a proper personality and a set of eyes because he clearly can't see how lucky they are to have you.

There's a difference.

A big one.

At the end of the day, I refuse to believe every platonic friendship is secretly a love story waiting for its movie soundtrack.

Sometimes people are...

Wait for it...

Just friends.

Shocking, isn't it?

So yes.

Guys and girls can absolutely be friends.

The real debate isn't whether opposite genders can be platonic. It's whether people know how to choose trustworthy partners in the first place. Because if your relationship survives only when every attractive person disappears from the planet...

I'm afraid your relationship was just a test run and was never the real deal. but that's just goes to show.

so even if Justin Bieber came to you with an NDA , you shouldn't just sign it. ( without reading it first)

keep your standards high, your boundaries higher, and your situationships non-existent

À la prochaine, mes chéries.

-W.blair