Interesting comment.
Not sure I fully agree with the "woman as potential friends" part, I'd be more inclined to put forward Jordan Petersons view which suggests that men have much more of a threat of physical violence than woman do. Woman's expression of violence tends to be verbal.
This is probably best demonstrated by types of bullying behaviour children engage in. Boys will bully by pushing, shoving and hitting, girls bully by causing reputational damage by spreading rumours or social exclusion, which is very evident in how girls are affected by (and are perpetrators of) online bullying much more than boys.
With this in mind, it offers an explanation as to why men tend to be on guard around other men, basically in case it kicks off, whereas woman will be more to be "friendly" to each other, then talk about that person when they aren't present.