This is one that hits close to home for me. I am not a girly girl. I look very girly. I try to always have my makeup done, hair at least slightly manageable, and outfit looking like I didn't just fall out of bed. Don't get me wrong- I can rock a pair of heels and pull of a smokey eye better than anybody. But anyone who knows me knows that I've probably crossed my legs 4 times in my life, there's no way I can drink any carbonated beverage without burping, and I cuss worse than a sailor. I am no lady (Sorry, Mom). Growing up, all of my friends were guys, except for maybe 4 girls, who were my best friends. That's the way it was in middle school, high school, and college. I actually fell in love with sports because all of my guy friends were playing them and I went to support them and got into the game on accident. Coincidentally, I decided to make working in sports my life goal. But here's the deal. In the South, if you are a male, you are friends with guys- unless you're dating someone, and then that is the ONLY person of the opposite sex you talk to- unless it's for work or school. Seriously, I'm not joking. And if you're a girl, you stick to your sorority friends and boyfriend, who you marry right out of college and settle down. They literally make the girls who grow up in Alabama take classes in etiquette so they can throw proper dinner parties and cook well- while the guys take woodworking and mechanics. HA.
BRUH. WHAT?!?!?! How are you supposed to ever have a rounded view of life if your group of friends doesn't include people of both genders?! Is it so weird to be friends with someone you have no romantic interest in? Is it possible to just be friends with someone of the opposite sex? Cuz honestly, I'm not very ladylike, which most of the girls here are- so I don't have a heck of a lot in common with them. I've just always understood the male psyche better- so this one hits home for me.