In her paean to heterosexual female-on-male friendship (appropriately titled "Guy Friends Rule"), Williams does make some annoying generalizations. She writes,

My guy friends [...] will hang out for an entire evening and never once mention anything to do with feelings. If one of them forwards me an e-mail, there's an 85 percent probability it involves "Star Wars" and zero chance it contains a quote from Maya Angelou. If a man I'm not sleeping with tells me I'm beautiful, I believe him. I have had guy friends gallantly toss me over a shoulder and carry me through big puddles. They have, when I've been blue, asked if I needed somebody's ass kicked. My guy friends have never asked to split an appetizer because they were really trying to stay in the Zone, nor looked at me like I was a war criminal for ordering dessert.

At times in my life when I've had more guy friends, they've been wonderful confidants about feelings (note to current guy friends: you still are). If a woman "looked at me like I was a war criminal for ordering dessert," I probably wouldn't be friends with her. None of my friends tend to e-mail me about Star Wars, but if an e-mail includes sharks, there's an 85% probability it came from my mom. Williams also commits what I'm now christening Geek Deadly Sin #6, using the word "frak" in a context not related to Battlestar.

Stereotypes aside, though, Williams makes some good points about the value of dude friends for straight women. She writes,

You want to have good relationships with the opposite sex? Get to know a few members of it. That's what friends are for. To hear you out. To keep you in check. To make you a better person. And your girlfriends and wives and boyfriends and husbands will thank you for it.

If you let guys into your life and your heart, you can't hear the phrase "there are no good men out there" without recognizing it for the stupid sexist bullshit it is. You can likewise toss out the male canard that they're all just booty-chasing simpletons as the smokescreen that is as well.

Especially if you've been burned in romantic relationships, there is no quicker recipe for a hopeful attitude toward future relationships — and a continued appreciation for half the human race — than a male friend who treats you well and doesn't try to sleep with you. Bitching about men with your girlfriends is a time-honored (at least on TV) activity, but it can become an echo chamber of bitterness, clichés, and, frankly, sexism. I'd argue that all women, not just straight ones, can benefit from friendships with men, if for no other reason than the fact that these friendships force us to recognize that the problems of gender roles in our society are a lot more complicated than "men are pigs."

My dad once said, of someone who didn't read books published after 1950, "why would you want to cut yourself off from so much interesting stuff?" I feel the same way about guys. So although my recent woman-centric years have been wonderful (I used to be one of those girls who "didn't get along with other girls," which, as many commenters have pointed out, also sucks), I'm trying to get better at calling my old guy friends. Because although it may be harder to maintain female-to-male friendships as you get older — after college, it's tougher to become close with men without giving off a datey vibe — it's totally worth it.

Guy Friends Rule [Salon]

Entitlement
Really. We're in a "relationship" now? Isn't that a little presumptuous? You know I'm just "settling" on my current husband...how exactly? Are you aware of the world outside your own cocoon of baffling self-assurance? You sent that eleventh text message without reply because you're so very certain I will finally succumb to your charms...based on what? You're unattractive, unemployed and uncharming and yet you tell everyone I'm your type because...women like me have managed to see virtue in you in the past? Why must you assume I am desperate? And why must you assume that I fucked you before, therefore I will fuck you now? Why must you assume that I ever really wanted to fuck you to begin with? That you weren't just a pity fuck in the first place? Did I even attempt to fake an orgasm? Were you even paying attention? Wait, hold on a second, I don't get mad often, so when I fucking get mad, will you fucking look at me when I'm talking to you? Oh my God, are you checking that girl out? Seriously? Which brings me to...

Wandering Eye (Related: the "No Club That Would Have Me As A Member" Club)
You think there's something hotter/smarter/prettier/cooler around the corner. Guess what? THERE IS. ALWAYS. IT WILL NEVER END. SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE, GUYS. You can't fuck all of them. And why the fuck should they fuck you?

'Bros Before Hoes'-ism
You know what females are sick of? Loyalty. Fuck it, you know? We have enough. We don't need it from men. We're strong. Why would we need you to stick up for us ever? Especially our male friends, when they set us up with their male friends and something goes wrong. It's cool to be a leper sometimes, it's like we get to experience apartheid. But like, did it ever occur to you that the guy who coined that phrase, "Bros before hoes," did so because he never got laid?

Compartmentalization
Hey baby, will you tell me that story about how you came in that girl's face that night while shouting our her best friend's name, just to fuck with her? It's cool, because I know you would never do a thing like that to me because our relationship is totally different and you actually view me as more than just, as you so charmingly put it, a "cum dumpster." I feel really special that you made that leap with me.

Delusions of Grandeur
I dated a guy once who, I shit you not, had a two-sided To-do list pinned to his bulletin board. Facing up, we had some mundane reminders — buy a new lamp, exercise more — but if you turned it over, there were a few more. "Write sequel to The Prince." Now, see: that guy had been trained. He had ambitions, sure, but he knew better than to wear him on his sleeve in an attempt to make you think they might interfere with your plans to get Indian food.

Testosterone Supremacy (Related: overuse of terms such as "crazy", "PMS", "drama", "aggro"...)
Hey! I know men are better at math and science, but just where is the book that told dudes that estrogen was the driver of all female emotion? And that our hormones not only render all our thoughts and feelings wild and irrational, but that they blind us to any sense of reason that might lead us to screen the grievances we air to men for accuracy, logic and fairness? Because we're completely oblivious to the fact that women are biologically more emotional than men and therefore can never be told enough that we are engaging in "drama" or being "crazy." Unless we do hear that enough, and stifle our instincts and emotions and learn to choose our battles to the point that we actually get a reputation for being "chill," in which case it is an invitation for our dude friends to profess their love for us and chalk it up to our massive repressed numbness when we find ourselves unwilling to reciprocate. (See this sentiment expressed in Crap Email form here.)

Reciprocation
You know what is fair and just and true,
And it ends in -ilingus if we've gone down on you.

Related: Why Can't You Resist This Woman? [Details]

Earlier: Why Must All Dudes 'Always Be Closing'?
Boys Who Use The Word "Drama": An Investigation