I sort of used to be like that. I was never a girly girl so I felt alienated from all the young women I knew. I used to think, if I can't enjoy shopping and don't know how to wear makeup, then I have nothing in common with these people.

Needless to say, THAT was the problem, i.e. the problem was my attitude. I never made an effort to look beyond the surface of a well-put-together girl and make a connection on any other level. I assumed, based on appearances and gender, that we could not possibly have anything in common simply because she was obviously interested in fashion and I wasn't.

I didn't do that for boys. I hung out with boys even if they wore comic book tshirts, without once thinking that I don't know anything about comic books therefore I have nothing in common with them. It was also easier to hang out with boys because they made more of an effort to reach out to me, easing me through my lack of social skills - quite possibly because they saw me as a potential date. Heterosexuality tilts the scales heavily in favor of making male friends for awkward, nerdy younger women.

I wish I can tell you I have a solution for you, but what happened to me was simply that I grew older. After graduating college I suddenly seemed to have MANY more things in common with female friends than male. Suddenly my good old guy friends didn't know what I was talking about when I had "what the fuck do I wear to work" woes, couldn't empathise with me about parental pressure to settle down with a nice man, couldn't see what the big deal was about lewd comments from coworkers. But alll my female friends got it. The divide has gotten much greater since marriage and kids.

I still have a facebook feed that is curiously divided: when I post politics, men comment. And when I post kid stuff, women do. I treasure the friends of both genders who are able to cross over and interact in both without feeling threatened.

tl;dr: fumble along somehow until you hit your 30s and things sort of magically fall into place, I guess?