I used to have a similar view, except I didn't actually make any female friends, and my ideas were very blurry about what either that or romantic relationships were, due in no small part to my lack of formal permission from my parents to seek or establish the latter. What I was totally oblivious to is the profound meaning of masculinity, so it's little wonder noöne respected me.
My theory so far -- So female friendships are easier to manage and more pleasant. No s**t, Sherlock! That's exactly why you shouldn't care very much for them. They're not challenging because women don't have to compete with you for their place in the pecking order, and are too busy keeping one another in check anyway. It's among men where you have to prove yourself as a man to earn any respect, and this involves having your share of sand kicked in your face. Only through shared hardships will you attain true belonging and brotherhood, all the while remembering your place in the male pecking order. I know, I know, you can share perilous and scarring experiences that force you all to mature with women, too, but the deep, ageless part of our brain where these collective emotions reside doesn't work that way, because it evolved through millions of years of strictly sex- (and therefore gender-, since you didn't get to choose the latter; it was chosen for you from the former) segregated labor. You can, of course, rationally override this animalistic constraint, but it'll do you little good among most people, because they can't be assed to do the same. In fact, they'll take pride in not doing it, because this way they are politically incorrect, which is the cool thing to be, not a lame feminist wanting gender equality.
I took the trouble to add the "so far" remark because I'm used to people assuming I want any theory of mine to be taken as gospel and I'm stupidly unwilling to learn. The opposite is true: I know I'm very ignorant and this is what little I have so far, looking to learn more, which necessarily involves changing my views.
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The red lake has been forgotten. A dust devil stuns you long enough to shroud forever those last shards of wisdom. The breeze rocking this forlorn wasteland whispers in your ears, “Não resta mais que uma sombra”.