A Tumblr Thread Discussing the Depressing Dynamics of Male/Female Friendships Goes Viral

Male-female relationships and friendships are complicated matters. Who can say where friendship ends and a romantic relationship begins?

At least, that's how it is for men. They tend to develop emotions for their female friends.

All of you girls out there—have you ever discovered that a man you believed to be a friend was actually telling others that you "friend-zoned" him? This scenario is not unusual.

And how many women complaining about being "friend-zoned" have you met? If you talk to psychologists, they all have their theories.

But the explanation can be quite simple. It's just the way men are hardwired. They tend to get attached to a person with whom they are sharing their emotions.

When hanging out with guys, we can't really share emotions and have to maintain that macho "nothing can hurt me" stance. It's just the law of the jungle.

Even though we are not gathered around a fire in a cave now, but rather drinking in a comfy bar, not much has changed. We are still subconsciously trying to prove ourselves and show the world that we are strong.

This Tumblr thread does a great job of demystifying why friendship seems to mean such various things to different men. It doesn't repair the harm, but it does provide us with a new perspective on this dynamic. Hopefully, we can make a difference in this area and foster positive interactions among people of all genders.

These days, we need all the friends we can get. It takes a village to raise a child, and the same goes for changing perspectives and deep-rooted wrong beliefs.

Take a look and tell us if you agree with the people on Tumblr:

It all started with one malicious comment:

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Which provoked one Tumblr user to post a detailed answer that explains so much:

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Thought, conversation, and discussion abound on Tumblr. A portion of it, however, deals with answering questions that were never actually in need of an answer, such as why dragons have eyes on the sides of their heads if they are predators.

There are also postings that are deeply entrenched and thought-provoking, addressing a variety of real human issues (you're welcome, by the way).

The Tumblr user notes in her post that it all makes sense because males are urged not to express their emotions, especially with other guys. This is due to societal and cultural conditioning.

In fact, they typically rely on—almost exclusively—their romantic partners for that. In contrast, women are not socialized in a way that prevents them from expressing their feelings naturally.

Men tend to rely on their emotional and sexual partners for support.

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And everyone loses in this situation.

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There is a way to change this, but we all need to put in an effort.

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There is currently a discrepancy between men and women regarding the importance of emotional sharing as part of a romantic relationship and, more crucially, as part of the package of friendship. Thus, it deceives men into believing there is romance when there isn't.

In turn, both parties end up confused and perhaps even hurt, at the very least. “So men suffer terribly from being trained in this way. But women suffer in that they can’t reach out to male friends for basic friendship.”

And that is so sad.