Platonic Friendships: Can Men & Women Be Just Friends?

Today I read something about how a guy should behave as regards a girlfriend with ‘too many male friends’. How many is too many, by the way? A good friend of mine (male so many of them are!) told me that I’d always have difficult relationships since so many of my friends are male.

Now this is odd. I’ve never had issues relating to this. At least I don’t think so. Despite my long laments about the evils that men bring to society, the fact is that most of my close friends are male. I draw the boundaries of friendship very clearly. Of course, there are all those spillovers resulting from loneliness, rebounds, hormones, stress and such things. But I think all of these can be sorted out if at least one person, if not both, can keep a rational mind. I’m probably rigid since I define ‘friends’, ‘dates’, ‘colleagues’ and ‘acquaintances’ so sharply. I try and keep all these definitions water-tight and from spilling into each other. It is necessary for someone who likes people but also wants to keep sane.

So fine, then. What am I harping about?

I just had a thought today. The aforementioned article mentions that ‘men don’t want female friends. They’re just trying to see if they can take it elsewhere.’ That bit of information makes me steam in the ears. But I’m curious. Is that the truth? What DO men think?

Is it possible for a man and woman to be friends?
Can the platonic state exist for its own sake and not just because the two are bound by other relationships or something else?
Do men make a differentiation between male and female friends? (I don’t mean the way they treat them and talk to them, but how they see them concerning their own lives….how important are they, how much they trust…)

I’m rather tired of screaming myself hoarse about the woman’s point of view. Now I do want to know the male perspective. So, inputs anybody?