The friend zone has always been known to be the dreaded area of just being “the friend.” You can’t get out once you are in. It means you are stuck as just a friend – no matter how badly the guy wants to have something more with the girl. The actual definition, according to Wikipedia, is “the situation where the female has begun to view a male as a friend only and not as a romantic partner.”
Around campus, I heard both good and bad things about the friend zone. Guys have mixed opinions and girls know it exists, but it never really crosses their mind. The friend zone is predominantly a male problem.
What N.C. State guys have to say about “The Friend Zone:”
Junior Matthew Marchese says it sucks. “If you are in friend zone, you like her and she probably knows but she doesn’t want the whole relationship thing. She is just going to keep you in the friend zone. She is basically using you. Someone is going to get too touchy feely and it is going to get awkward. If you’re a girl and you keep letting a guy have those emotions it is not going to get any better.”
Jarred thinks that it is selfish for a girl to keep a guy in the friend zone, “I guess I’m a little bitter and I think people should be more considerate. If someone likes you and you don’t like them, then you just need to be back off and make it clear.”
Kalen Fread only had one thing to say about it,“yeah, it exists. And it sucks.”
Matthew W. says that you have to stay out of it, or you will never make it out. Matthew’s friend Taylor S. felt the opposite. Taylor said that he didn’t see anything wrong with it. But if someone admits they like someone else and the other person doesn’t feel the same then it becomes weird.
Blake Harms didn’t really have anything bad to say about the friend zone. “To me, just because a girl is in the “friend zone” doesn’t mean it can’t change. A lot of times, great things come from girls who start off as good friends as getting to know someone for a while tends to prove for a better relationship then someone you just jumped into out of interest. On the other side of things, the friend zone could be something she can tell by judging my body language and how I act. Sometimes if we just don’t click, you can tell if what I am going for is the friend zone.”
What N.C. State Collegiettes™ Think About “The Friend Zone:”
Girls felt similar, saying that if they are stuck in the friend zone it sucks. Women are not usually considered to be the ones who stuck in the friend zone, but it happens. And when it does, it sucks just as much for girls as it does guys. It just depends on your situation, but girls usually want to be out of the friend zone just as much as guys do. When the friend zone is brought up, women are not usually the ones with the perceived problem, but it does exist. What I learned, is that girls are worried about it, but not to the same extent as guys are.
Krystal Rodas says that “the friend zone only sucks if you can’t get out of it. I always realize how valuable someone is when they’re in the friend zone and I’d prefer to be with someone that has been in the friend zone, then I know that that person knows not only how to love me but how to be a friend”
Sarah Gerber kept it short and simple, “I think it’s perfectly fine.”
Sara Hunt thinks that it most definitely exists and that is what makes it hard to find a boyfriend. “When the guys are most of the people you hang around it makes it awfully hard to find someone to date. And not only can you not date them, they also are very protective when you go out and sometimes keep other males from coming up to talk to you.”
No matter what side you are on, the friend zone is an existing problem, especially if you are stuck in it. According to the guys, the best way to get out is to never be in it in the first place. But for some, the friend zone can be seen as an introduction into becoming a relationship. Either way, the friend zone has its positives and negatives.