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Men, Women, and Friendship
Dec. 27th, 2004 08:41 amDo you believe in the possibility of a true friendship between a man and a woman?
Yeah, I do. Always have, really. Maybe not on a conscious level. I mean, I have friends who are women. Warriors mostly. Their sex was never an issue in our friendship, maybe because they acted more like men – especially on a battlefield – than some guys I know. That's not the thing that convinces me, though. Hercules does. I mean, if you knew him the way I did way back when then met him today . . . you'd think they were two different people. Gabrielle had a really funny way of putting it. She called him a male chauvinist goat? Chicken? Cow? The kind of guy that thinks women are only good for taking care of men. That their only worth is cooking and cleaning and sewing and animal husbandry. Seriously! Herc was like that once! Right around the time I got married to Anya. But then something changed. Almost overnight. I don't know what happened but it was like the big guy had a revelation or something. Next thing I know, he's congratulating me on the wedding and treating Anya like she's a goddess. And damn me if he didn't find Dienara a few months later on one of his labors. They had that love/hate relationship that turned into real friendship, then true love. Maybe it was Dienara that changed his mind about women. Whatever it was, he's made some fast and true friendships since . . . Xena, Gabrielle, Atlantia, Niobe . . . Hera's Enforcer, if you can believe that! So yeah, I do believe men and women can be true friends. Herc is the living example.
Iolaus of Thebes
Hercules/Xena
270 words
Yeah, I do. Always have, really. Maybe not on a conscious level. I mean, I have friends who are women. Warriors mostly. Their sex was never an issue in our friendship, maybe because they acted more like men – especially on a battlefield – than some guys I know. That's not the thing that convinces me, though. Hercules does. I mean, if you knew him the way I did way back when then met him today . . . you'd think they were two different people. Gabrielle had a really funny way of putting it. She called him a male chauvinist goat? Chicken? Cow? The kind of guy that thinks women are only good for taking care of men. That their only worth is cooking and cleaning and sewing and animal husbandry. Seriously! Herc was like that once! Right around the time I got married to Anya. But then something changed. Almost overnight. I don't know what happened but it was like the big guy had a revelation or something. Next thing I know, he's congratulating me on the wedding and treating Anya like she's a goddess. And damn me if he didn't find Dienara a few months later on one of his labors. They had that love/hate relationship that turned into real friendship, then true love. Maybe it was Dienara that changed his mind about women. Whatever it was, he's made some fast and true friendships since . . . Xena, Gabrielle, Atlantia, Niobe . . . Hera's Enforcer, if you can believe that! So yeah, I do believe men and women can be true friends. Herc is the living example.
Iolaus of Thebes
Hercules/Xena
270 words
