I think the debate over whether straight men and women can be friends has solid arguments on both sides. For me, it's mixed. I think that nobody, straight, gay, or bisexual, can really maintain a friendship with someone they are strongly sexually attracted to, but we do overestimate how many people, particularly men, have such a strong attraction to another person.

The one thing that seems quite disingenous though is saying that men and women can be friends, including with people they're sexually attracted to, as long as there are certain boundaries present. I think that it makes much more sense to say that, if such boundaries that apply to one gender only are needed at all in a friendship, you probably can't be friends

Like for example, if you're a woman, you probably are not worried about your bf texting guy friends at 1 am, hugging him for a minute straight, hanging out in a pool with him, being his gym buddy, hanging out with the same guys one on one continously, or even in some cultures, giving him a peck on the cheek.

Basically, the fact these things are even being considered means that a same sex and opposite sex friendship aren't equal.

But these things would rightfully send the same woman into a frenzy if he did those with another woman.

I think the issue is we've had rules over such boundaries for decades, but somehow, we've decided that the fact bisexuals exist means we need to totally work backwards and redefine the boundaries we've had between straight members of the opposite sex for years and years, which is extra odd given that bisexuals have existed back then too.

I would say that the existence of bisexual people does not mean we should totally rewrite the rules around straight friendships. Straight and bisexual people, as well as individual societies in general, should feel free to keep boundaries of their choice, and unless two people who have conflicting views on appropriate boundaries are considering a relationship, I see no issues here.