Can guys and girls really just be friends? Explore this question and more with Khanh and Alex as they discuss the trickiness of balancing healthy platonic relationships, taking risks, establishing boundaries and more! See what Khanh is up to on IG @superkhanh
Show notes:
- Intro to Khanh Ly
- Definition of platonic friendships: friends where there is a potential for you two to be attracted to each other & a potential for a relationship or something more than just friends or acquaintances
- Can guys and girls be just friends? Yes!
- Khanh’s journey in finding the people he could be his most authentic self with. He found he could connect with people on music, musicals and Disney. Many of these people were female. He shares his struggle in feeling pressured to be more masculine and talk about basketball, cars and sports.
- Importance of finding others who allow you to be your authentic self, no matter what gender they are
- Social standards of masculinity: cars, skateboarding, sports, etc.
- “I longed for less of the people who liked the same things as me, but more people who are willing to talk to me about the things that they liked, freely, without judgement or anything like that”
- Perks of platonic friendships: Being himself, free, silly, and feel comfortable to hang with
- Not discounting friends because of their gender. Everyone we meet makes us who we are today
- Challenges when one person wants to be more than friends
- Importance of being clear when telling someone your feelings have changed towards them into something more than friends
- Be kind and understanding when someone expresses their feelings towards you. It’s ok to not be on the same page
- Evaluate whether it’s worth the risk to change the friendship
- Ask yourself questions about your feelings: What is it that you like about this person? Pause and reflect before acting
- Acknowledge what you have control over and what you don’t
- How do romantic partners understand your platonic relationships?
- Transparency on both sides and addressing feelings is key
- As the platonic friend, what can we do to respect our friends’ partners?
- Importance of setting boundaries: what you are willing and unwilling to do. Sometimes friends can come first above romantic partners
- Keep learning, even as we fail, press on!
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Instagram: RacyFriendship
Website: www.racyfriendship.com
Email: racyfriendship@gmail.com
Music on the show provided by: Podcast.co
