Trouble differentiating relationships?

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Kexx
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12 Jan 2015, 9:11 pm

Does anyone else have issues with differentiating between platonic relationships and romantic ones? I mean, I guess to an extent I know what "platonic" relationships are when it comes to my relationships with men because it's incredibly rare that I'm ever attracted to men, but with women and non-binary people(who I mostly hang out with) I tend to just not have a real barrier between "just friends" and "romantic interest", especially so when it comes to those I'm close to.



yellowtamarin
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13 Jan 2015, 7:30 pm

Well, no, it's pretty easy for me. If we are having sex it's not platonic, if we're not having sex, it is.

If you are referring more to understanding what the other person WANTS it to be, then yeah I often have difficulty telling if a friend may have romantic feelings for me that they aren't expressing.



SpaceMaster9000
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17 Jan 2015, 4:05 pm

I've always had trouble with this. I'm pansexual which make things complicated in the first place, but I also develop almost unhealthily close relationships with my friends. This is causing serious complications in my current close friendship and I have no idea how to proceed. I'd like to date someone, but I could see my relationship with my friend posing a threat to any potential partners.
I used to assume that the line between friendship and romantic relationship was sex- but that's not quite right because asexual romantics exist. And what about demisexuals?
I've studied the triangular theory of love and I've made tons of Venn diagrams, but I still can't make sense of it. I suppose it could exist on a spectrum, but spectrums bother me.
I've heard that the line is kissing on the mouth, but that really depends upon the culture and the people involved. It's kind of like saying that the line between acquaintance and friend is hugging when there's obviously much more than that.
Sorry I don't have answers for you, but its nice to know I'm not the only one with this problem.



Kexx
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25 Jan 2015, 3:09 pm

Honestly I'm not really looking for solutions or anything, just wanting to know if others feel the same way I do... It seems like I can't get really close to someone without having a crush on them. Though idk, maybe I could be "platonic" with a guy friend who's close but I don't tend to interact with men a lot. But really I think even that could end up how my other relationships do...