Is it possible for males and females to function as just friends, or could only same-sex friendships exist? Are all male-and-female friendships bound to degrade into something worse, should it prolong enough?

I am asking this because a comment in a different post claims that the number one red flag in men that any women would find attractive is that they are only friends with other men and not women, leading to a possibly infallible suggestion that men only see women as sexual objects.

I am here to ask for some unbiased perspectives, to r/ExplainBothSides to the best of their ability.

• Is it possible for males and females to function as just friends without, as suggested by the comment and all that responded to it, males insisting on pushing physical boundaries?
• No matter how much time passes, if enough does, will the friendship deteriorate in this manner?
• Therefore, would this only be prevented if all interactions, associations and friendships were of the same anatomy to prevent this?