Social issues change overtime. There are some things that may be considered abnormal in the past but is totally accepted today.

One of these issues is what is called a platonic relationship. In a modern popular sense this is when two people of the opposite sex develop an affectionate relationship without having to be physically involved with each other. The urban dictionary describes this to be two heterosexuals hanging out without having to engage in sex.

In the past when two people spend a considerable amount of time it is expected that they will develop a certain attraction to each other. This is under the context that opposite will attract. This is also based on the fact that when two people of the opposite sex continue to be together certain hormones will react and this will result to attraction. Thus it is already assumed that there is a sexual and emotional relationship between the two. There are physiological researches to support this theory.

However there is a debate if this is indeed possible, that two people in the opposite sex can have an emotionally and socially, but not sexually, involved relationship. Research suggests that there may be some truth to this possibility, that we can be just friends with members of the opposite sex, but the possibility for “romance” is often lurking just around the corner, waiting for the most inappropriate moment.

In this research according to huffingtonpost.com men were much more attracted to their female friends. Men were also more like to think that their opposite-sex friends were attracted to them. The funny thing about this is males assumed that any romantic attraction they experienced was mutual, and were misguided to the actual level of romantic interest felt by their female friends, while women, were blind to the mindset of their opposite-sex friends because females generally were not attracted to their male friends, they assumed that this was also mutual. One can already surmise that the result of this gender differences can be devastating.

It is not whether a platonic relationship exist because it does, the issue is whether it is right or wrong. Society changes overtime but there are some things we could not change just because we feel it is convenient. Wrong assumptions like these can develop or destroy relationships. I would rather leave it alone and let nature run its course. Let us not try to insert it to our social norms for convenience. There is a reason why this is not done in the past and if we look close enough we will understand why.