Girls, our mothers have all warned us about those boys who are only out to break our hearts; our fathers have told us about those boys that they never want us to bring home. But for some reason or another, we can’t seem to get enough of said boys. Of course I could only be talking about bad boys. Wouldn’t we be sparing our daddies a few gray hairs by just sticking with nice boys, though? So why don’t we?

Nice boys are, well, nice. They open the door for us, hold our hand, our mothers adore their smile, and our fathers approve of them because they bring us home on time. They’re reliable, respectful, and trustworthy. If you could sell them in an infomercial, they would come with a heartbreak free guarantee. But where’s the fun in that?

Girls are like sculptors, and when a boy has already been chiseled into the Statue of David, we immediately lose interest. We need a big slab of rock that’s rough around the edges, just waiting to turn into our very own masterpiece.

Bad boys say what they want and do as they please. They’re carefree, and have a twinkle in their eye that lets you know they’re not the type of boy you want to bring home to mom and dad. Their rebellion presents a challenge, and girls are on a mission to single handedly change a bad boy’s rebellious ways. We all want to believe that we’ll be that one girl who can make a bad boy turn his life around and settle down.

While every girl wants nice boy qualities, dating a nice boy is just too easy. We need something that is going to keep us occupied, something that will make us feel accomplished; and because bad boys rarely ever change (despite how absolutely sure girls are that they can change them), we’re willing to sacrifice the last of our fathers’ not-gray hairs and a heartbreak free guarantee for a lifetime of challenge.