If you haven’t read my previous two articles about making friends with the opposite sex. You should start from there (this & this)! Then, it’ll make more sense why it’s okay and even important for girls to have guy friends!

Here are some of the ways my guy friends have blessed me:

1. They are excellent practical advisors

Men have been given the stereotype of being emotionally oblivious and blunt. Their way of showing love is to offer practical advice to help you solve problems, while females very often need emotional support (Of course, this is a huge blanket statement. We must understand there are huge individual differences within each gender group). But who says guys offering advice while you’re stuck in an emotional turmoil is necessarily a bad thing? Sometimes, I just need a solution that actually works to uproot whatever is dragging me down.

2. They are usually straight to the point

Oh yeah, please, let’s save the time of circling around, asking about the weather, and other nonsense. I am an independent and busy woman. I love you, but please, I would appreciate if you can cut straight to the point, my friend.

3. They don’t tend to interrupt you when you just need someone to listen

I literally just got off the phone with a guy friend who listened to me rant for 20 minutes straight about how stressed I’ve been (and I, of course, had to dramatically end the conversation with tears). He didn’t interrupt me even once, until when I finally stopped, he said, “I don’t really know what to say.” Well, I don’t really need you to say anything. Didn’t you realize that you listening to me was all I needed?! Of course, I wouldn’t mind if you can tell me you’ll always be here for me, too. Anyways, guy friends can be perfect listeners!

4. They are awesome advisors when you have boy problems

Who else can give you a better understanding of your boy problems than a boy?!

5. They are usually not into personal dramas

“Can you just walk a little further away from me, please?” means “If you trip, we’re both gonna fall. To be safe, let's not walk so close together” to my guy friend. In my head though, I already made up a thousand different reasons for why he hates me before I finally exploded and asked him why he didn’t want me around. Sometimes I overthink too much. It’s just nice to know someone close to me is not overthinking and means exactly what he says.