Don't get me wrong, great girl friends are essential to the survival of any young woman. But what is often forgotten is the fantastic friendship that can form between a girl and a guy. Here's why.

1) You have a protector.

No bad can befall you with this guy around. No matter the circumstance, whether it be a creeper trying to put the moves on you at the bar or a thunderstorm you’re too scared to drive in, he will have your back every time. It’s kind of like having a big brother, but better, since you don’t have to live with him or share a bathroom with him, and let’s be honest, you’d probably kill him if you did.

2) He will always give an honest opinion.

You can ask him, “Hey, how does this shirt look?” or “How stupid do I look in these high heels?” and he will honestly tell you what he thinks about it without the fear that a boyfriend would have of giving the wrong answer. If your boobs look lopsided, he’ll tell you. If he thinks you are going to be like a baby giraffe with wobbly knees and fall over repeatedly if you try to walk anywhere in 6.5 inch stilettos, you’ll know about it. The unabashed honesty is refreshing, and much more helpful than a girl friend, who would probably reply with something like, “OMG no it's so cute you can totally wear that,” when in reality, you actually CANNOT wear that.

3) There’s no drama.

You will never have to fight over the cute guy you met on girls night out. You won’t ever have to feel competitive. There’s no chance of him borrowing your favorite dress and “forgetting” to give it back. There are no back-handed compliments, no undermining one another to make yourself look better, no backstabbing, no pettiness, no catty-ness. It’s a beautiful thing. It allows for appreciation of the friendship without all the struggles that come with maintaining the same type of relationship with another girl.

4) He’ll always give you good guy advice because he understands both sides (and vice versa).

He can always let you know what’s up. If you come to him with a situation, he can give you perspective both because he is a guy and can better understand where another guy is coming from than you can, and because he knows you so well that often the advice given ends up being the best advice you could have gotten. Whereas if you ask one of your girl friends for advice about a guy, there is always a chance her advice will be tainted by her own personal experience (i.e. “every guy who is bad at texting back is a lying cheating turd” because her own ex-boyfriend was a lying cheating turd. Maybe in reality the boy you’re talking to is actually, in fact, just really bad at responding.) But it’s really a mutual thing. You are able to do the same for him if he has girl problems. Reciprocal and awesome.

5) You’re totally getting married if you’re both still single by 35.

You have a perfect, ready-made husband. Seriously! You’re already best friends. He already knows the best and the worst of you. And if he has stuck around for any significant period of time, its probably a good guess that he can handle you at your worst. He’s probably been there for a drunk crying episode, been there for the loss of a family member, been there for a graduation, a wedding, a funeral. Your families would probably be ecstatic if you came to them one day and said “Hey, yeah, by the way since we can’t find anyone else to be with us for the rest of our lives, we’re just saying f*ck it and getting married ourselves.” You may joke about it, and the thought does seem pretty hilarious, but who knows! At least you have options.