actually one of the things I've been enjoying thinking about in canterwood is the way that a majority of the male characters are there pretty much only because they are dating one of the female characters and don't really exist outside of that. it's like flipping the bechdel test on its head.
you might say "obviously they only exist within their relationship to a female character, the main character is a girl, and the story is first-person perspective," but my point is that most of the male characters wouldn't be there without them dating Sasha or one of her friends. (the effect does not exist in the same way in Lauren's portion of the story)
Jacob is a really good example of this, he exists for Sasha's crush on him for the first two books and most of the third. from then to Home Sweet Drama, he's Callie's boyfriend and still trying to get with Sasha. his presence in City Secrets is very minimal until the end when the emails are revealed, and from then on, he is dating Sasha.
similarly, Ben almost always appears because of his relationship with either Julia or Heather. Ryan exists only within Paige's crush on and eventual relationship with him. Troy and Andy are introduced well before they date Heather and Brit, respectively, but their presence is very minimal until they are part of the girls' storylines with romantic relationships.
the notable exception to this in Sasha's era is Eric. he appears first in Chasing Blue as a transfer student and he and Sasha become friends. sure, they date for about 3 books, but after the dust has settled from the whole birthday party lie scandal thing, Sasha and Eric go back to being friendly and then friends again. Jacob and Eric are the only two guys at Sasha's house in Home For Christmas (in contrast to the other 4 guys that are at Taylor's in Lauren's group) and Sasha is only dating Jacob, Eric is there as a friend and a horse lover.
Lauren's era has a lot more of her and her female friends being friends with boys without dating them. for example, Garret is entirely platonic with all of Lauren's friends until Clare sends him a message as a dare in Home For Christmas. as another example, Cole is a very close friend of both Lexa's and Lauren's and he doesn't date anyone through the series (though this is likely a "can't show queer people in relationships" thing since Cole is gay but canterwood lacked the freedom to show queer relationships and queer joy in the same way that the saddlehill series now can)
