Can girls and guys just be friends?

Ah, the age old question. This has been a recent topic of conversation between some of my friends lately and there is still no real conclusion. A male friend of mine posted on Facebook  Ladies: if a guy wants to spend time with you to get to know you he is interested in you as more than a friend. We all already have enough friends we cant spent time with. And if you have a boyfriend let us know immediately, not on the 5th drink we buy. The responses poured in. His point is that men are not interested in just knowing women as friends. They ask you out to get to know you and cant suck it up to ask you on a date. They are scared of rejection so not putting the date title on it makes it easier. The conversation proceeds to go back and forth with the men’s opinions vs. the women’s and trying to convince the other one that he or she is right. Many men do not believe they were designed to be monogamous that its not in our biology. With that said they still want to go out, buy girls drinks, get to know them, yet don’t want the stigma of a relationship or any responsibilities that go along with it. Relationships take work and this takes all the fun out of it. They want the sex and companionship but don’t want to help with important decisions or to take care of them as a traditional man. And they certainly don’t want marriage. They want the sex and companionship from as many women as possible. The general consensus from the ladies was that they can certainly go out to get to know you. But that is it. No underlying intent. If the intent comes down to the guy buying drinks for his motive then the girl should buy her own drinks and avoid all confusion. This Facebook thread went on for days. Guys trying to convince us that  marriage or relationships are for the birds (mostly because they have been burned and feel justified that it never works out and it is not their biological imperative.) And girls saying that they CAN be just friends. Their point was that buying drinks for us didn’t require that we owe you anything. Otherwise we will buy our own drinks but thanks for the nice gesture. If you want to get to know us, great. Generally we will want to date and move on to see if it turns into anything. We, as a rule of thumb, want to be in a relationship and not play the field (at least after our 20s). We typically want to be married and have a life with someone. Yes, there are a fair share of girls who do not want marriage or a relationship. They grew up in a household that was destructive or have been burned in their own relationships. Either way, the ongoing debate continues. Stop spending, or should I say, wasting,  your time trying to convince everyone that your way is right!!! There is NO right. Here’s the bottom line. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. Everyone has different stories. Everyone has different experiences. Everyone has different wants and needs.  Your safest bet is to find someone that wants the same thing you do. If that means hanging out with each other whenever with no commitment, great. Conversely, if you want to be in a relationship or get married then find someone who wants that as well.