Can women really be friends?

So, I have this [what shall I call him] boyfriend/lover/friend.. sort of ex.  We are still quite close, even though we are not really intimate any longer.

He has always encouraged me to be friends with the women in his life.  His wife [now an ex].  His new lovers.  His female friends.  All of them.  He has always encouraged me to meet, talk, develop our own relationships.. for ourselves--not for his sake.

And, sooner or later, I have always tried.  I made contact.  I extended the hand of friendship.  I found some common interest.  I made all the moves.  But, not once did it ever work.  NOT. ONCE.

Most times, there wasn't even a polite, non-interested interest.  You know the kind of casual coolness that relatives save for you [if you are the black sheep like me].  The kind of reaction that lets you know you are not welcome now, or ever.

Why am I writing about this?  Because I don't know how to ask him to stop saying to me, "I think you two would get along.  Why don't you contact her."  I just don't know how to tell him that however much he loves these women, they do not love, or even like each other, and none of them like me.  Not even a little bit.

Problems.  Problems.  I think about this situation and ponder the things I've tried in order to maybe find a friend, and I look at my own personal history, and I wonder if women can ever be friends when it comes to sort of sharing time with a man.  I mean, in my experience, women are and have been pretty cut throat about that, even if the man in question would be happy if a friendship developed.

How do I tell him that?