Having Guy Best Friends

by Tara Block 3

The hashtag #reason2haveguybestfriend is currently trending on Twitter. And it got us thinking, what are the perks of your bestie being a guy vs. a girl? Here's what we came up with.

Reasons to have a guy best friend:

• There won't be that underlying competitive streak in the relationship that's sometimes unavoidable with a girlfriend.
• Guys understand their fellow gender better than we do, so they have a more accurate jerk-dar when it comes to potential love interests.
• From "Does this haircut look good on me?" to "Am I being too needy?" a guy friend won't sugarcoat the truth, which we need sometimes.
• Arguments and fights are inevitable in any relationship, but guys tend to put it all out there instead of holding it in and being passive-aggressive.
• As antifeminist as it might sound, sometimes it's nice to have a guy friend when your car dies, you need to put together an Ikea bookcase, or there's some sort of bug infestation in your apartment.

Why it's not such a great idea:

• A guy friend can never fully "get" what it's like to be a woman, so there will always be those moments when we need a fellow lady friend who doesn't run away when we are being an emotional, irrational basket case.
• That inevitable When Harry Met Sally rule: someone in the friendship always falls for the other. We've seen it time and time again; things get complicated the minute one person starts to want more out of the relationship than being "just friends."

Do you think it's better to have your best friend be a guy? Why?