Is friendship possible between men and women? Or between boys and girls?

It’s a classic question that I recently thought was a bit old-fashioned—until I came across several viral videos titled "Surprising my male best friend by kissing him."

Seeing those, I thought: Oh, it’s the same old debate, just packaged differently. So people are clearly still wondering about these things.

I don't know whether those videos were staged or real, but in most of them, the guys had a positive reaction to the girls kissing them.

In my opinion, true friendship between men and women doesn't exist. To be clear—before someone argues, "But my husband/wife is my best friend!"—of course they are, and that’s wonderful! But the primary bond connecting a couple isn't friendship; you are partners first, and friends second. That isn't how it works with a regular best friend, where you are just friends.

Over the years, I’ve had male friends. In some cases, they had a crush on me and I didn't feel the same way. In other cases, I had a crush on them and they didn't reciprocate. So for various reasons, we never ended up together. But to everyone else, we always used the word "friends" to describe our relationship.

In the end, these friendships always ended. Either one of us got into a romantic relationship where the new partner didn't appreciate the friendship, or the partner picked up on the hidden romantic tension and set boundaries.

These are my real-life experiences, and the same thing has happened to almost all the friends around me. What about you? What has your experience been, or do you have a different story to tell?