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11 Posts
Hi Everyone,
This is my first post. I've been living in the St Kilda area of Melbourne for 2 years now and my wife and I are very happy here.
I have a question for debate for all of you. I think it will be an interesting perspective for those who are also new to Australia / Melbourne.
Historically I have always had a majority of female friends. I'm a guy, but I'm not very blocky or macho and generally don't like the sorts of things that many men really like. I'd much rather have a long conversation one-on-one and get to know someone a little better. My friendships, male or female, have always been the sort where we get together for dinner, for drinks or for a long walk and just chat for a few hours.
For me this feels very natural and very normal. What has shocked me, and I don't know exactly how standardised this is in Australia or whether it's just the people I've met, is that both men and women in Australia seem to (and I'm of course generalising here) think that men and women can not be trusted to be friends.
So I'm interested to hear whether I'm alone in this experience, and if anyone has any suggestions about how I might overcome this.
I'm incredibly happy with my marriage, and will never do anything to jeopardise that. I understand that many women have had bad experiences with men. It's a difficult thing to bring up in conversation. Saying to a woman "I'm not a creep and I just want to be friends" sounds a bit creepy all on it's own. So how do I (do other men) communicate and build trust so that we can be friends with women? And have any others have difficulties with this here in Australia (Melbourne specifically)?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Al
This is my first post. I've been living in the St Kilda area of Melbourne for 2 years now and my wife and I are very happy here.
I have a question for debate for all of you. I think it will be an interesting perspective for those who are also new to Australia / Melbourne.
Historically I have always had a majority of female friends. I'm a guy, but I'm not very blocky or macho and generally don't like the sorts of things that many men really like. I'd much rather have a long conversation one-on-one and get to know someone a little better. My friendships, male or female, have always been the sort where we get together for dinner, for drinks or for a long walk and just chat for a few hours.
For me this feels very natural and very normal. What has shocked me, and I don't know exactly how standardised this is in Australia or whether it's just the people I've met, is that both men and women in Australia seem to (and I'm of course generalising here) think that men and women can not be trusted to be friends.
So I'm interested to hear whether I'm alone in this experience, and if anyone has any suggestions about how I might overcome this.
I'm incredibly happy with my marriage, and will never do anything to jeopardise that. I understand that many women have had bad experiences with men. It's a difficult thing to bring up in conversation. Saying to a woman "I'm not a creep and I just want to be friends" sounds a bit creepy all on it's own. So how do I (do other men) communicate and build trust so that we can be friends with women? And have any others have difficulties with this here in Australia (Melbourne specifically)?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Al