girls, girls, boys

Sometimes I just wonder what led to the unnecessary habit of placing platonic relationships between two people of the opposite sex under a romantic or sexual lens. It seems that in the eyes of society, a man and a woman simply can't be 'best friends' - they have to be soul mates of a romantic nature or worse still, having an affair when one or both of them are romantically or sexually involved with another. I still remember going to eat dessert with a good friend who told me to speak softly while discussing matters about his girlfriend, fearing that the other patrons in the restaurant would view us in a negative light. More recently, another good friend of mine got into an argument with his girlfriend because she was suspicious of me and viewed me as a romantic rival when I was simply texting him about academic matters without any prior knowledge that he was on a date. 

People keep chanting that mantra about how one should ignore what the rest of the world thinks and live for oneself, but it is getting increasingly more difficult to do so once altercations occur. They make things real and tangible and rooted in reality. Honestly, who the hell wants to be indirectly, or even directly, responsible for a break-up? It is true that the actions of Man will result in consequences and ripple effects a higher power is only able to control, and it is because of this biased and archaic view of male-female relations that I normally refrain from physical contact with other gender. Two days ago I met one of my best friends from junior college (who just so happens to be a guy), and as he sent me off at the bus stop, we awkwardly patted each other's back in a sign of solidarity and an indicator of purely platonic affection.Now, I wonder if it would have been more natural for me to have just given him a great big hug instead, screw the judgy public.

Ultimately, the only way for this whole issue to be eradicated is for society to change and become more open-minded. But who am I kidding. This is Singapore, where a storybook about two penguins ends up being placed in the adult section of the library. Not in a million years.