Well, Child, I would not be so radical as to say that friendship between men and women is "impossible", but I do somewhat agree with Tolkien when he says that older people are far more capable of it.
To make an example: at my present stage in life, 80% of my male "friends" have busted a move on me at one point or another, most of them more than once. The other 20% I have busted a move on myself. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
I have not had a single friendship with the opposite sex devoid of any sexual innuendo, unless you count a couple of my male teachers, and a few men 25 years my senior or so. Then again, there have been incidents with men 35years my senior, that have left me seriously considering moving to a deserted island, thus escaping men forever. [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img]
Not to harp on about my personal life or anything (I don't want to give any of you nightmares...too late???), but I think my current state of affairs supports Tolkien's argument almost perfectly.
Things will surely become different once I am older, but for now, I've settled on making good use of such "friendships."
The time I live in is, however, different from that of Tolkien, and even more so from his characters.
Could Arwen have a "friendship" with Faramir? Could Galadriel have a "friendship" with Glorfindel? Hmmm. Depends on what your definition of "friendship" is (Gawd, did I just sound like Bill Clinton or what?).
Mutual respect and admiration? Yes. Chit-chat at dinner parties? Absolutely. An actual close friendship, whereupon the two in question spend lots of time alone together? It wouldn't seem appropriate unless they were closely related. (And even in those cases, there's no guarantee, remember Ar-Pharazon?)
[ June 30, 2002: Message edited by: Lush ]
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~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~
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