A number of my (M26) friends are women. I’m travelling and my parents want me to send them pictures, but I can’t send them a single picture with a girl next to me without her becoming my girlfriend in their eyes.
I do fine for myself too! Actual girlfriends come and go and I tell them when I’m dating someone, and they hardly seem to care.
Kills me dude.
All the more reason to do it. Establish boundaries and make clear that their behavior is inappropriate. Getting offended by having that behavior called-out is borderline abusive.