Platonic Friendships

Last night, I couldn't fall asleep and I was lying on my bed just randomly thinking. One of the thoughts that popped up in my mind is the old question that was in the movie, When Harry Met Sally. Can guys and girls be 'just friends'? So I thought about all the guys I knew where I considered them at least an aquaintance. And I am very ashamed to say that I couldn't think of one guy who I was not attracted to at some point, whether it was physically or to their personality. It seemed I had felt like flirting with each one of those guys at a certain point of the friendship. I mean, I'm obviously not attracted to them in that way anymore. But that leads me to think, do guys and girls always have to get past the 'attraction' stage of their relationship before they can move on to friendship? In the movie, Harry says that its impossible for two people of the opposite gender to remain friends because they would always want to have sex with each other. Does this mean that the sexual attraction between the two genders is what keeps people from being intimate friends? Personally, I'm always closer with my female friends, simply because there are things that would be just too weird to talk to a guy about. If I talked to him about other guys, I would always wonder if he would tell that guy that I talked about them, because there's always the whole 'guys stick together' thing. And I obviously can't talk to them about 'girl stuff'. I mean how awkward would it be if I started discussing brands of tampons or something with them? It would be the equivalant of them walking up to me and telling me that they're having a boner right now. Totally awkward and just plain weird.

Another thing I was wondering about was flirting. Just what is flirting? Teasing? Playfully hitting? Talking? I'm a heterosexual (straight) and I tease my female friends, we went throught that phrase back in elementary school where it seemed funny to slap each other's butts, and we definitely talk. But I'm obviously not flirting with them. What makes this different when it comes to guys? I remember one time where I was at the pool during the summer and me and this guy I knew were splashing each other. Of course, all my friends immediately thought we liked each other and were flirting like crazy. The truth is, I don't know if I was flirting or not. Maybe subconciously, my hormones are directing me to attract males. After all, humans are animals and the whole point of sex and hormones is to find a mate and reproduce. This is what animals do.

This leaves me befuddled and absolutely confuzzled.