It all depends on the people. I know a guy who had a serious relationship with a girl. They are friends now. They don't always hang out, but keep in touch and help each other out. I kniw they aren't into each other.

I think the interaction should be limited. I have one male friend and i rarely spend any time alone with him.

I was asking because my boyfriend and I seem to have two complete mind sets on this situation.

I have a female friend who I was intimate with many years ago and we are still good friends. We have helped each other through some rough spots in life. We do not have a physical relationship but are there for each other.
However, I have had some issues with former girlfriends who cannot seem to understand that a man and a woman can be friends...

My belief is that when i am in a relationship with someone interaction with opposite sex friends should slow down and focus should be on the partner . Yes, men and women can be friends, but there is always a little bit of sexual tension and while i may not be attracted to the male friend, i can not say with confidence what he may or may not feel, therefore i do not want to put myself in a situation when temptation or whatever can arise.
If my male friend comes over, i prefer that my partner is home and if i interact with a male friend we keep tabs on each other maybe once/twice a month, not constantly.
If i al single, it is a different story.

In my experience, frequent interaction with opposite sex friends did not lead to anything good. I allowed it to go on, trying not to be needy , controlling and restrictive, and the guy ended up sleeping with some of these women and this is not an uncommon occurrence.

I know that I can have male friends and have it platonic. (and the guy cannot be someone that I could be attracted to) As long as the situation is somewhat structured and has more boundaries than same sex relationships it tends to do better.

For example, I have no problem having a lunch alone with a male coworker, or my BF doing the same. (structured) Also he can go jogging with a group, where there are female friends. (structured plus others = less intimate)

Now I think it would not be ok if a guy was calling me around dinner hours to vent about his relationship problems as though he needed someone to talk to and I was that someone.

I would certainly be ok with my man going to the bar for a couple of drinks with his buddy that is going through a divorce. I would not be ok if that "buddy" were a girl. I would be ok if he offered an office friend some consoling words at work where neither got so emotional.

So I guess for me the structure means that the friendliness of the relationship starts and ends at the encounter, the work time lunch, a public event meeting, or whatever it may be. If the parties leave the encounter with desires and needs, even of a non sexual nature, like longing for an emotional connection or support, I think this is not a good place to go.

I would feel guilty if a guy was calling me at home and relying on me for emotional support, or I was calling him with my problems expecting him to make me feel good in some way. I think that is what my female friends are for. I would not want some girl calling my BF expecting to meet any emotional needs.

I do have a male friend that has similar diet restrictions and we do support one another and trade recipes. I jokingly call him my gay friend so my BF is reminded of the platonic-ness, but we don't have any "emotional need" to talk it is just fun and supportive if that makes sense. I never feel like "I have to be there for him"

People should be able to be friends with whomever they wish to be friends with. The keyword is 'FRIENDS.' I would be willing to bet that most people know, deep down, what's appropriate and what isn't. It isn't appropriate to have friendships that have romantic feelings involved, either from the person in a relationship or toward that person. The problem comes when people aren't honest with themselves. They can say whatever they want to justify it, but if you're aware that feelings are developing, or you wouldn't like being on the receiving end of your behavior, then the behavior is inappropriate. If more people lived by 'treat others the way you wish to be treated,' most of these problems wouldn't exist.

I forgot to add, putting limits on who someone can be friends with only breeds jealousy and resentment. If you don't trust your partner, or he or she is being a jerk, there are larger problems in the relationship that won't be fixed by not hanging out with members of the opposite sex.

I sometimes find it hard not to take things to a sexual level. Most of my friends of the opposite sex turn out to be fwbs.
I honestly think that I'm a little screwed up because I know that they usually want more. I try to stop myself but when you get caught up in the moment, things happen.
By the way If a woman is in a relationship I might hang out with her if her guy's around or if we go somewhere public

This is just MY opinion. I think that women can be friends with guys but it seems like it is the guy that a lot of times want to take it to the next level. I can be friends with a guy and nothing more. Most if not all the guys that I have been friends with at one time or another have tried to make it more than just friends. I have made it very clear that I just want to be friends. It is very uncomfortable and awkward when this happens.

That has been my experience. I also think that once you cross the line of being just friends and it becomes something more than just friends it changes the dynamics of the friendship and it is very difficult if not impossible to go back to just being friends again.

Just my opinion.

it is possible. it all boils down to whether the other person trust that their significant other. i am good friends with my ex. we started as friends and ended as friends. the problem he has face is that his past gf's did not like that we were friends, to speculate it could be out of jealousy, possible lack of trust, and the fact that they want to meet me but i don't want to meet them . i don't want to meet them because they are not doing so out of sincerity or truly want to get to know me. they want to meet me to see if i am a threat to their relationship and/or to gage if there is something there and whether he is telling the truth. being that most people believe that men and women in general can't be just friends when there are people who generally are they find it hard to fathom because they believe its impossible. if they cannot trust in him and what he say then nothing he do will pacify them, meeting me wouldn't change a thing. anyway, from my experience it is possible to be just friends with an ex, if the feeling is mutual between two parties and there is no ulterior motive. whatever feelings i had for me ex long been over and there is no attraction towards him, to me he is like family and a good friend nothing more nothing less. for him its the same. so everyone can't be like us however it is indeed possible.

My best friend is a guy. We hang out help each other out an complain about and admire others to each other. He looks at women an talks to me about potential relationships as I do him. Most people can't handle it and insist it is more than it is. Puts a cramp in dating but if someone can't accept it for what it really is and be friends with him too well... guess who I'm not seeing anymore.

I didn't read the other responses, but I have dated guys who were friends with the exes (I've been friends with exes too), but I am pretty much done with that. Too many headaches, not worth it....

It is healthy for people to have friends of both sexes. Almost all of my friends are men. There's never been anything inappropriate with them. I've never had an intimate relationship of any kind with any of them. They are just friends.

I think when it becomes a problem is when your partner is giving more attention to their opposite sex friend than they are to you. The guy I was seeing seemed to almost exclusively have married female friends. I'm relatively certain there was nothing going on and he was friends with their husbands. But he talked and spent more time with them than me, which caused problems for me.