Working with Candy Cuties all these years (have you seen our teaser for Batch 2012?) has forced me to take a closer look at boys’ friendship, and how different it is from girls’. At first it seems like there is not much to say, that what girls have is so much more complex and meaningful. But when groups of guys come in for our shoots, or when we hear about one guy campaigning for his friend in the online voting, or when any form of public support for one another makes its way into our Twitter and Facebook feeds, I realize that there is plenty to admire and emulate.

While a guy will not usually compliment another guy’s looks (can you imagine: “Pare, cute ng top mo!”), at least not without irony and dripping sarcasm, he will gladly talk to someone else about his friend’s achievements and strengths in a way that will make you wonder why there tends to be so much competition and jealousy among girls. “Why can’t you just be happy for me,” we girls often like to ask. The amount of drama between boys is also considerably minimal, and not because they sweep things under the rug. I don’t want to generalize that boys are better at forgiving and forgetting, but think about it—why is it usually easier for guys to be more tolerant of one another’s mistakes and imperfections?

This is not to say that girls suck at being friends; on the contrary, I believe the best relationships in life are between girls who have grown up together physically and emotionally, who have shared milestones, triumphs, and heartbreaks, who have fought and made up and fought again. I guess the point I want to make is this: the next time you hang out with a bunch of boys, take a break from a) sighing over their cuteness, b) deciphering all that gaming talk, and c) simultaneously trying and not trying to impress them, and pay attention to the way they relate to one another as friends. And if there’s anything you can apply in your own friendships—their in-your-face but well-meaning honesty, their ability to not take everything so personally, their fun, carefree dynamics, or their deep loyalty and the unspoken pact to fight for one another until the very end—then please do. I’m sure the boys will be glad to know there’s an awful lot girls can learn from them, too.

Hugs,
Marla