Your best friend and her boyfriend were the classic couple. They were fiercely passionate and had declared they loved each other before they even started dating. Everyone was pretty confident they’d be together for a while… but then, she gets dumped. And it’s ugly.
Cue the mountains of chocolate, gallons of ice cream, marathon of sad movies and hours of rants. Naturally, she is showered with donuts, cookies, chocolate, peanut butter, ice cream, coffee and supportive texts from both her friends and his. So while watching the ninth episode of One Tree Hill, you start wondering, why does everyone take the girl’s side in the breakup?
It’s an unwritten rule that girls side with their girlfriend. Regardless of what has happened, your “sister from another mister” is always the priority and you swear to defend her until your death. But if girls always defend girls, then why don’t guys always defend guys?
The answer lies within their friendships and primate studies. After fighting, male apes often can become best friends, but female apes rarely mend that friendship and will forever hold a grudge. A study regarding these differences was conducted by Harvard University students and the results showed that female chimpanzees and early humans were “programmed” to look after the family and only a few friends. On the flip side, the male chimpanzees and early humans spent little time with family and instead focused on relationships with other primates. This can be translated to modern day.
Something in the chemistry of a woman’s mind tells her to guard those close to her extremely fiercely and to protect them from all harm. This is why when someone breaks our best friend’s heart, we want to help in anyway possible. Meanwhile, men are more apt to do whatever they believe is right, not taking into account relationships. This explains why boys hold less grudges and remain friends with a wider spectrum of people.
Of course, there are flaws in every study and as our world continues to grow and evolve, not every case falls within these parameters. The only thing we know for sure, is that ice cream and chocolate can make anything better.
