A lot of people say that guys can't be friends with girls, or vice versa. There's a common belief that guys only want to be friends with girls in order to get sexual favors or something of the sort. On the flip side, there's another common belief that says that if a girl is friends with one or more guys, they're promiscuous. While the overall business of one's activities are not for others to concern themselves with, it really isn't always a true accusation.

There are many people who are friends with people of the opposite gender, and I'm one of those people. I personally have many friends that are both guys and girls, and I think that everyone should have at least one friend of the opposite gender. It can do wonders for everyone's social life.

One good, and fairly obvious, benefit is the ability to get a unique perspective on a situation. This can come in handy with almost anything, from relationships to reading to work, and even when asking for simple advice about anything. If you commonly think one way, and you need another view on the topic, generally someone who thinks completely unlike you (usually someone of the opposite gender) is a good person to ask in times like these.

Another fairly good benefit that I have learned is that different genders (and also people) can offer different kinds of support. Guys can be very supportive with less emotional things, where girls can help with understanding emotions and assisting in emotional support.

I know that there's been a lot of times where I was ready to lose it, but my friends helped to calm me down. Rather than just the plain pat on the back from guys, they helped by hugging it out, talking and sorting out the problem. This helped to overcome the issues a lot easier, in a more overall sense.

There's other things, such as varying degrees of drama, which can vary based on the person, but most people will say that girls bring up drama a lot more than guys typically do. On the other side of things, both genders will generally bring in different experiences. Guys may teach you how to play sports, video games and other physical things, where girls may teach you about the Internet, how to shop for specific things and other skills that can be very helpful in everyone's day-to-day life.

In the end, disregard the stigma. You are allowed to be friends with whoever you want to be friends with, and you don't have to listen to any negative comments. As long as your friends are treating you the best they can, it shouldn't matter what gender they are.