There are always going to be people like that, both male and female, who take advantage of someone's feelings/attraction to them, but most people aren't like that. The term "friend zone" hasn't been popularized because of that sort of behavior, but because certain guys are pouty that some girl whom they like doesn't like them back. Those guys so easily get away with saying that the girl was emotionally manipulating them, when in most cases that is just an excuse. (I very much appreciate all you people, guys and girls, who want to see an end to this "friend zone" hooey.)

The friend zone affects both men and women. It's basically the modern way of saying unrequited love. I've known a couple guys who got friendzoned and their complaints weren't about getting laid. They were sad the girl didn't have feelings for them too. There was one creeper moron who was pissed off they weren't getting laid... But it was a woman who got friendzoned by a guy.

52 - no one said it's ok to 'lay' anything on anybody, but at the end of the day, you feel how you feel (though I wouldn't always call it love). Some of these comments suggest that it's not ok to have feelings for someone who doesn't feel the same way, and honestly, I think that's a bit unfair. I agree that no one is obliged to be in a relationship simply because they like someone else, but going through disappointment when being rejected is always going to happen. If someone constantly complains like a whiny asshole, then that's another story.

I would LOVE to see an end to this "friend zone" nonsense. Before I got married, I was always up-front about my feelings with boys.....I didn't play coy or drop hints or take advantage of anyone, I spoke in plain english about simply not being interested. Most of the time the honesty was greatly appreciated....only once a few years ago did it get me a verbal lashing from a "Nice Guy" I had just been out with. I didn't feel any chemistry between he and I and I respected him too much to pretend otherwise, so I told him so and it got me a verbal lashing about what a bitch I was for not wanting to date him. Some boys really need to get over themselves. In those particular instances, I wish it was still socially acceptable for a woman to slap a man's face if he was rude towards her. [circa 1850 or so]

Yes, because a poster above talking about "male entitlement" isn't likely a feminist. I said "some" of the clearly feminist posters. I wasn't saying everyone who diagrees with me. You're fine to disagree but I doubt someone's claim or statement when they claim "all things are x arrangement". Because it refuses to acknowledge an alternative that does exist. Feminist or not. You're wrong if you think the friendzone is only guys wanting sex.

51, Pfft, "unrequited love" my ass. That "romantic" "unrequited love" happens only in your head when you don't have the guts to get to know the person better/make a move. It goes like this: when you like somebody but too afraid to get to know the person, you start thinking about that person, then your imagination spins out of control. That's not love. That's delusion, and it can be easily cured by time. Symptoms: the object of affection looks like some kind of heavenly creature, angel, or whatever. It means you need to snap out of it, since girls are humans too and the sooner you understand that, the better. Throw your rejected "feelings" into garbage bin (where they belong), and find another date. Unless you're a hermit, your town probably has at least hew thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of dateable women, so you should be able to find at least one of them.

Though I agree with the last part of your post, I would like to state that love is always sort of a delusion. When in love you won't see a persons flaws and ignore them. Love is blind.

101, you've never been in love, have you? Spouting romantic stereotypes like that. Love is being aware of one another's flaws and accepting them anyway.

I think just saying you're in the "friend zone" tends to imply something negative about the person who rejected you. I usually find that it's guys who talk about the friend zone, but not always. If you're rejected by someone you truly love, why would you want to say negative things about them?

101, Nah. There's "delusion" (that's not really "love"), where you idealize your partner. And then there's normal kind of love, where you know that your partner isn't a perfect person has many flaws, but you're totally okay with that.

@101 I think you're confusing love with infatuation. Infatuation is that "lovey dovey" feeling you get when you first start dating someone or when you have a crush on them. It's generally a feeling of euphoria when around that person and often being blind to the other person's flaws and seeing them as perfect. Love comes in different forms including romantic love. You're aware of the person's flaws but accept the way they are. In other words, love isn't really blind but about being able to look past a person's flaws and loving the person underneath.