Don‰’t make fun of me but I will preface this article by saying I have been really wanting to watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I love that movie not just because I think Kostas is a Greek god. Or because you get to watch Blake Lively lose her V-card on the beach. But, in all the clichÌ©s I can think of, because it‰’s a truly accurate portrayal about female friendship.

I live in a small place with three other girls and have come to realize that my relationship with them is easily one of the most important relationships of my life, but the most often overlooked. When someone is a really good friend, we take him or her for granted because we know we will never officially break up with him or her like you would with a boyfriend or girlfriend. There are so many unspoken words of loyalty, admiration, and love that I feel for the women in my life that go unsaid, yet I find myself readily available to praise my male friends to their face. I know it‰’s because to have close male friends is an eccentricity and to have female friends is just an assumed part of being a woman.

Romance between two people in love is always found in songs and movies. We are bombarded with romantic images of what we are constantly told is the most important part of life. No one wants to die alone so you might as well shack up. Even with television shows and movies that are centered on female friends, like Sex in the City and Bridesmaids, there is always a romantic subplot. It is like the thought of women getting together and not talking about men and sex is unfathomable. In male friendship-centered movies, there is no need for a mushy love story, ÌÊ la The Hangover. In media, it seems like women are never as good of friends once they get the guy, but when they are unattached they cling to each other just so they can complain in unison about the troubles of dating.

Thankfully, I know a song that counters these incorrect notions. In Carole King‰’s shockingly soulful yet folk-driven “You‰’ve Got a Friend‰” she does not hark on women who are better friends when they don‰’t have a significant other in their lives, but rather just an unwavering and truthful love between two friends. The song is about a friend who wants to “brighten up even your darkest night‰Û. Perhaps this song is too simple, but I cannot fault it.

The message is resonating and in a time of J.Lo‰’s nip slip and Madonna grinding with LMFAO, no one notices simplicity anymore. “You‰’ve Got a Friend‰” is strictly platonic and is full of praises about true friendship in times of need, “Ain‰’t it good to know that you‰’ve got a friend‰” through and through. There are no allusions to damsel in distresses, on the contrary King sings to “keep your head together‰Û. There is not one ounce of hyper-feminine bullshit. Instead, King presents a beautifully simplistic song about a consistently present friendship, regardless of what your relationship status is on Facebook.

By Michelle Merica