Girls and Boys

When I was a child, I was a tomboy.  I love to climb trees, build a "dam" across the creek behind our house, and play cowboys and indians or dungeons and dragons with the boys who lived on our street.  As kids, no one really made a fuss that I liked to play with the boys.  My oldest friend in the world, who I've known since I was two, is a boy who lived up the street.

When I was in highschool and university, I still liked to hang out with the guys.  At parties, I would usually be out on the back porch drinking beer with the guys rather than inside with the girls.  I preferred the testosterone-laden conversations and the raunchy jokes, the cigarettes and the beer to the wine spritzers and discussions of weddings and home decor that took over the estrogen effused indoors.  I am still good friends with two guys I met when we were in our teen years.

Over the years I have made many friends with girls and guys alike.  I have more girlfriends than guyfriends and while I treasure all my friendships, I truly appreciate the friendships I have with the men in my life.  They show me a different perspective on the world and on relationships.  They think differently and give me insight into the workings of the male species.  And they make way better drinking buddies.

Interestingly, I have a hormone imbalance which has gifted me with more male hormones than the average woman.  I have often wondered if this is perhaps the reason why I have more male friends than the average woman and why I tend to seek out male friends and keep them around.

In addition to that, my personal beliefs and values do not necessarily coincide with those of the masses.  I believe in equal opportunity, that men and women can be close friends without anything getting in the way.  I am a fairly open-minded individual who, I realize, has a different definition of appropriateness than the average (North American) woman.  I am rather naieve, tend to believe too much in innocence and goodness and I don't get jealous. Sometimes I forget that most people don't think like me or behave like me and the reminders are occasionally harsh.  For me, a friendship is formed with a particular person based on mutual interests, insights and commonalities, not on what sex they are.