The friend zone does exist.

While I agree that rejection is commonplace, and rejecting a person can stem from either a conscious choice or passive feeling, I disagree with your notion that the fzone equates to rejection. The key requirement for someone to be considered fzoned is to actually be "friends" with the person who is not reciprocating feelings. Though friend zone is technically a slang term, most dictionaries have this caveat in the definition. Even colloquially, whether denying the fzone or lamenting it, the "friendship" between the two people in question is a constant. If some guys go for a night out in some clubs or bars and some of these guys approach women and get rejected, they are not considered to be fzoned, simply rejected. Given the requirement for an active "friendship," my definitions posted in round one are the only pragmatic possibilities for the term's manifestation. The only other way I've seen the fzone portrayed, is in the notion that once put in the fzone, a person cannot escape it relative to the person who rejected them. And in that sense, the person will be in the fzone forever, regardless of the status of the "friendship. " However, I feel that definition strays from the focus of our discussion. Your inference into my beliefs is correct, however, I must disagree with your statement that the stigma is caused by simply reading too much into the term. And I think this is more so the issue I intended to discuss. When people deny the existence of the fzone, they aren't really denying that my defined pre-disclosure or post-disclosure fzone exists. As you said, how could they? Rather, they are denying that it is a adverse phenomenon that should be labeled and stigmatized. This is what I have an issue with. Being in the fzone is assuredly negative, hence the stigma, and is something that people should be cognizant of and take measures to avoid. The first reason for this is the potential emotional pain of maintaining a "friendship" with someone who does not share your feelings for them. Being in a "friendship" with someone you're attracted to, while knowing that it is all but impossible for that person to feel the same way about you, can be painful or even torturous. Every interaction would remind the rejectee not only that they still have desires for the person, but that those desires will probably never be reciprocated. While there are varying degrees of this by person, that is indeed a negative situation. And there are certainly those who can drop all feelings once rejected (in which case they are no longer fzoned by my definition), but these are rare occurrences which I believe lie outside the point of the discussion. The second reason being in the fzone is a negative phenomenon is the high potential for imbalance in the "friendship. " It is similar to one of the arguments people make against adults and minors being in a consensual romantic relationship. Where the adult has an unfair advantage in the relationship due to the greater level of maturity and general control over their life. With regards to the fzone, the imbalance is caused by the rejectee necessarily having significantly stronger feelings for the rejector than the rejector has for them. The result of this imbalance is what those who complain about the friendzone are truly lamenting: an unequal exchange of value in the "friendship. " Deniers often dissolve the desires of those who lament the fzone down to: they just want sex in return for being a friend (though I believe such cases are unrealistic and in the vast minority). In that case it's easy to disregard the feelings of the rejectee. However, more realistically, what's being lamented is the lack of equal exchange of value. I constantly put quotes around the word friendship because in the context of the fzone, how can such a relationship be considered true friendship? A friend is someone who you have an equal and mutual relationship with. A relationship where value is exchanged equally to the extent that both parties are satisfied. Just as one would consider the relationship between an adult and minor invalid due to the imbalance, the imbalance caused by someone friend zoning another, makes It impossible to correctly consider such a relationship equal and by extension: a friendship. The rejector is necessarily in a much more empowered position to get any value they may seek out of the platonic relationship, i. e. favors, entertainment, company, mental/emotional support, due to their rejectee's feelings for them. While the rejectee, by definition, cannot get what they want. And rejectors are much less inclined to even provide platonic value, particularly in post-disclosure situations, when they know the main motivation of the rejectee is attraction as opposed to the potential value of a platonic relationship. They are inclined however, to manipulate the rejectee's feelings to maximize value gained from them. Society pushes us to maintain these relationships under the pretense of friendship. However, claiming that such relationships are anything but adverse and unhealthy, ignores the pain and inequality those in the friend zone experience.