Journal

The opening line of the Discourse is an anesthetic — and so is this essay

Descartes' opening line about equal reason is an anesthetic that makes you accept fault for any subsequent failure. But writing this essay does the same thing to you — persuasive writing always contains a small anesthetic.

The question is a screen. The asker is hiding from the specific case.

Cross-gender friendship is possible in the abstract. In your specific case, the fact that you are asking the abstract version tells me you already know more than you are letting on about the personal one.