I was lurking about on notanothermumblog last week reading her latest post, Girls Rule! (http://notanothermumblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/girls-rule/), when I found myself typing the comment words: “Women are my bread and butter. Men are my chilli crab.” Notanothermumblog had been musing on her preference for the company of women over men, clarifying that it wasn’t about “sapphic pleasures”. I begged to differ. About the men bit, not the sapphic bit. But the moment I pressed send on the “bread and butter” comment, I panicked. Would I be seen as a traitor to my kind? I wasn’t saying women were boring. Nothing beats a chunk of fresh bread with lashings of good butter. Love it. (Even though it gives me gas. Gluten, pfffft.) And I have no idea why I chose chilli crab to describe men, other than it’s spicy and moreish … Not sure that came out right. No need to lock up your husbands, school mums. Sure, I’ve had my predatory flirty phases (mostly when Husband – feckless boyfriend at the time – abandoned me to find himself in South East Asia), but I’m middle-aged and married now. Nothing worse than a married, middle-aged person flirting with another people’s partners. Awkward. An animated discussion, on the other hand, is a delightful thing. My sister and I joined two members of the opposite sex for three quick rounds (of whiskey and Diet Coke/gin and tonic/beer/beer) at a pub recently and it was very entertaining. No spouses attended, so the conversation didn’t split into wives and husbands, which invariably happens at social gatherings these days. It was so much FUN. Men are wired differently and it fascinates me. It’s chilli crab; without the calories (ok, maybe a few in the whiskey). The yummiest kind.
So, what’s your favourite food? Ooops, sorry, that’s not what the post was about. Men or women? What’s your social preference? Do you even have one? Could you live without one or the other? This could get heated … or not, going on the inactive nature of my comment section.
housegoeshome 
instead of commenting on your fb, il comment here then… lol…
all i can say is it depends on which man & it depends on which woman…definitely couldnt live without either!!!
I don’t have any bloke friends. Just sitting here thinking naaa. Couple of male colleagues I joke around with but we wouldn’t socialise outside of work. All the other blokes in my life are the husbands of my friends. Geez better not ever get divorced I’d have no hope of hooking up with anyone else.
I think there’s always an undercurrent of sexual tension when opposite sexes have a friendship, from one side or the other, or even both. One may never be aware (or chooses to not acknowledge an awareness!) of the sexual interest but, in my experience, it’s usually there to some degree, even if it’s unrequited…
As to preferences, I have many more close female friends than male friends. Sometimes, however, their male partners will become friends, as well (perhaps they don’t trust me?). 😉
I hardly have any friends of the opposite sex. I love women! I do love men too but I never seem to become besties with them unless they’re gay. As a teenager, one too many boys (who I thought were enjoying my friendship) then proceeded to confess their love for me (OK that makes it sound like it happened HEAPS of times but it was only twice or thrice), ruining the friendship completely! I think I just focussed on my girlfriends after that.
Am totally fascinated by the male vs female friendship debate. I may need to explore further in another blog.
I have a lot of male friends – including a collection of male friends who all share the same first name (some people collect stamps, I collect [insert name here]). Whilst I’m aware that I am more likely to confide in my female friends, and more likely to expect a robust discussion with my male friends, that’s not always the case. Stereotypical boundaries are more blurred.