tl;dr: Suck at making friends with girls even though I'm a girl, got any tips?

I feel like I missed out on some crucial moment in life where most other girls got their secret girl club membership that seems to make girls connect on a gender level. Not over similar interests or anything. Just over the fact that they're girls. They're girly.
I've been trying to figure out why this is and how to solve the problem. Maybe it's because I grew up in an almost exclusively boys only environment. Maybe it's genetic. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Most people I've talked to have said something to the effect of 'the problem is you, but it's not too late to try making female friends.'
But it rarely works out. I can't help but feel like an awkward pubescent boy when I'm talking to girls. And some of them find this cute, and well, if they want to be friends with me over that, I'm not complaining.
But it niggles me a little bit, you know. Why do I bond so well with guys and not with girls? What's the difference, really? People are people right?
Sometimes I just stop trying. It actually takes a lot of energy for me to interact with girls because I'm so nervous when I do it. Sometimes I feel like I should just not bother.
So I stop bothering for a bit. Why should I care if I already have great mates who see me as a bro? But the niggling feeling is always back. The discomfort. The girls here and there who say things like 'Saika wants to be popular and she thinks that making all the guys like her is the way' or 'Saika thinks we don't know that she's stringing all these boys along, attention-whore'. And when one of my 'mates' confess that they've liked me all along, it feels like I've just proven these girls right.
So I try again. Fail again. I might exaggerate a bit - I have about 2 female friends whom I consider close, but even with them I struggle a little with 'being myself'.
So I'm asking you guys:
1. Have you ever felt the same? (Feel free to share your story - I might have some advice for you too!)
2. If you've already resolved this issue with yourself, how did you do it? Can you give me tips?
3. Are there any fundamental differences between male and female bonding that I should know about?
4. Do you have any other advice for me?

^ ah, forgot to add my name in

Just a simple tip out there.
I don't know if you're like me, but I also don't find myself fitting in with girls so much. That's why I mostly hang out with boys and have more things in common with, with boys.

It's perfectly fine.

Just because you're a girl doesn't mean you HAVE to hang out with girls. There's no such rule out there.

It can be hard fitting in with girls, especially girls now a days. (I'm guessing you're in highschool, or schooling years)

They just seem to be getting more bored and meaner.

They tend to judge people a lot and back stab their friends, and even I've had some bad experiences with this.

If you're comfortable with hanging out with girls, go ahead, if you're more comfortable with guys, go ahead!

But if it means changing yourself in a bad way, please just think twice.

I don't fancy hanging out with girls because, most of the time, I can't relate. They'll be talking about one-direction or Kpop stars and make-up and clothes. And frankly I just don't know anything about that. I can't relate.

I'm not saying completely avoid all girls just,do what you feel comfortable with.

Personally, I hang out with most of the times but I have a few acquantances that are girls and we do talk about things together like fan-girling about anime guys.

But that's about it. Oh yeah! We talk about homework too.

I think I know what you mean. It's like if you told them to describe themselves in ten words, 'girl' would be among the first three. Personally, I get irritated with people who are so conscious of their sex all the time, and I've always been more comfortable with those who are a person first, and boy/girl much, much later. I guess that's why it's easier to bond with a person of the opposite sex, because you're not so good at noticing all those little details that practically scream 'my sex is a fundamental part of my identity' at you.
Fortunately, a lot of people end up outgrowing that sort of intensity, so it gets easier to ignore later on.
In the meantime, well, people you hang out with are the ones you choose to spend your time with, so I don't think it's wrong to choose those whose company you enjoy the most. Of course, this does not mean you should stop making an effort to get along. People are different and there's usually more to them than what's right on the surface and I think it's important to try and understand the way they act and think, especially if they're different from you. Unfortunately, the majority doesn't seem to share this opinion and when faced with something they don't understand,they are satisfied with the easiest explanations. And that's how you get stuff like 'Saika is just seeking attention', because it's much easier to conclude that than actually think about why someone is behaving differently. But don't let that get to you, it's just how most people are.
As for that mate who likes you, of course the situation is not proving them right. When you spend a lot of time with someone, you develop some feelings towards them, and as often as not those feelings are of a romantic nature, especially if you're young and hormonal. Again, that's just how people are, and although this can cause a lot of problems, it's certainly not uncommon.

I don't really fit in with girls or guys exclusively. I used to fit in with girls, I guess, but I stopped. Now I just fit in with a very small group of friends, girls and boys mixed.

My advice: Don't see it as a problem. If you don't fit in with other girls, don't worry about it. Fit in with whoever you fit in with. Make good friends, no matter what gender, religion, race, or whatever they are. :)

Don't worry about gender, just hang around people who you like and respect. I used to hang out completely with other guys, then for a while mostly with girls, then for quite a long time with nobody at all, now I group with a mix of them, and it is by far the best combination. Gender shouldn't effect relationships.

Basically everything that has been said already. There's no reason to be so gender-conscious.

I have friends who are girls, and we've fangirled over stupid shit together and had obnoxious sleep overs; it's fun, but in the long run, it causes more drama than having guy friends. Just hang out with people who you enjoy hanging out with instead of minding their genders so much. You're really not missing out on that much anyway.

I share your problem. Most of the time, I can't stand exclusively female company for too long. It gets too touchy and then a (subliminal) cat fight breaks out, and at the end of the day, I feel more worn out than before. But hey, being this way is not so bad, is it? Better than being one of those high maintenance chicks yourself.

If you stay true to yourself, this problem will be solved before you know it. For me, it just disappear when I stopped hanging around girls I couldn't relate to. When you step back and take a good look at your environment you'll soon realise that there are more girls like us around than you'd expect; and they'll come to you naturally.

I have a couple of girl friends who aren't girly at all. They might not look like it, at least not all of them since your taste in clothes doesn't necessarily reflect your character, bit they have the mindset of a man. Most of them even wear the breeches in their relationship. Some of our guy friends have admitted that personalitywise, they are more manly than some of the biologically males in our circle.

Of course, you can ask your guy friends and try to meet their other female buddies if you haven't already, but over the years, I've discovered that once you give up on trying to dit in with all-female groups, you'll be automatically pulled in by laid-back women. Birds of a feather flock together, no matter where or when. This even applied toe when I moved out of my parents' house and had to leave my like-minded girl friends behind. I immediately hit it off with girls in university and in the dorm who turned out to be male-minded and women-avoiding later.

So, what you can learn from experience is that fretting over something like that doesn't do you any good. Just go with whatever and, particularly, whoever comes at you while being keen, and see what happens.

Pretty much what the majority has already said. i have a huge friend group thats both male and female. It's perfectly fine that way, gender doesn't make the person. Brain and heart is what makes the person. Focus on their personality more, and their gender less :)

Actually, one thing I've found helps is to be friends with other girls that struggle to make friends with other girls. My friends are still...75-80% male, but when I was younger, all my friends were guys, and most of those younger than me. And my two bestest best besties for life in the whole wide world are guys.

But one last question, why does the gender of your friends matter so much to you anyway? Just wondering.

Thankyou everyone for your replies, you're all really kind and understanding! It's really cool to see that there are others in the same situation and that no one here finds it weird or anything judgemental like that.
>>3 @Midget98: Haha actually I'm in university now. Ah I'm the same as you! I don't have much similar interests with the girls around me so I often end up talking to them about homework too. I'll try not to change myself in a bad way.

>>4 @S.E.: Yes! That's exactly what I mean. I feel the the same about people regarding their easy explanations for things they personally don't understand. I find that sometimes they (some of these girls) bond over this sort of thing (saying bad things about other people) - so I suppose I'm grateful I contributed to their happiness in a roundabout way.
>>9 @Litairtak Speruff: 'When you step back and take a good look at your environment you'll soon realise that there are more girls like us around than you'd expect; and they'll come to you naturally.' <= Thankyou for this.

>>11 @OukaSilverwing: I know one! And she's my closest female friend... although lately she's been bonding more with other girls it seems, so sometimes I wonder why I can't do that too.

So that's part of the answer to your question. There's too other parts.
1. My best friend started dating a lovely girl a month or so ago, and he'd really like us to be friends (although he doesn't like to be pushy with these things, I can tell from what he says). I want to be friends with this girl too, because she seems nice, but I just don't feel like I can really connect with her on a deep level. I've chatted to her a few times.. and it hasn't gotten very far. There are other issues complicated into here, but that's the gist.

2. I was comfortable hanging with all guys, the one of my closest friends (one who confessed to liking me) told me that he is actually a bit uncomfortable with me hanging with all the guys, because apparently the entire group dynamic shifts when I (the girl) am around, and the boys need boy time without me sometimes. I'm not sure if he's saying this because he likes(d) me, or if he's the only one being really honest about the situation to me.
The question this poses to me is - if he is right about me changing their entire dynamic, where do I go to if I want to leave them to have boys only time?

>>13 1. It might be hard at first if you lack common interest but why don't you try to create some memories together? Shared experiences are a great foundation to build a relationship upon.
When you go to the cinema or swimming or just want hang out eating ice cream, invite her over and do some small talk. Your first impression might prove to be wrong, and you might share more common ground than you think, particularly when she is your best friend's girlfriend.
When I first got to know them, I didn't hit it off with all of my girl friends, either. Some of them seemed stuck-up or boring or girly to me, and later they turned out to be pretty cool. You don't need to have the same hobbies to get along. I hardly share any with one of my friends but we do like eating and are quite the gluttons, so we mostly go out to eat or whip something up together.
Just be open and friendly, show some goodwill, and I'm sure things will turn out alright.

2. It's true that guys need some time off and have some exclusively male company. At least the majority of my guy friends hold all-male LAN parties or paintball matches from time to time. So your friend is probably right about the difference in dynamics between mixed and all-male gatherings, particularly if there are guys among your friends who look at you romantically.
The question is if the rest of your buddies is as bothered as he is. Maybe they don't care much about guy sessions and are perfectly fine with the status quo. The best thing you can do is to talk discretely to some of your other guy friends about this matter. Ask them how they see you and your group and explain your concerns to them but be careful not to sound possibly accusing or too troubled, otherwise they might feel guilty or misunderstand you.
After you have confirmed their opinions, you can still look for a solution if it turns out to be a real problem in your circle. Perhaps you could try to get closer to your best friend's girlfriend we they hold their male only sessions. But wait before taking any possibly unnecessary actions.