Does the "friend zone" exist?

I asked my female friends and they assure me the "friend zone" doesn't exist, it's a myth - girls will not be any more reluctant to date any given guy just because he's a close friend.

Does anyone here disagree?

There's one way to find out. Ask one of your female friends out on a date!

I have one in mind, eventually. See this thread.

... okay i guess I can't post links. Soo.. go back to the Men-Focused Support and look up the post:

Crush went from being "in a relationship" to "single".

It exists...

I've been told "You're too close of a friend" or "I see you more as a friend" more times than I can count...

My famous one is "your like a brother to me". Trust me if you enter the "brother" zone THERE IS NO GOING BACK!!! I've had many female friends so I know

This reminds me of the complaint that "nice guys" finish last or lose out consistently. The problem with "nice guys" is that the label tends to be applied to guys who have something wrong with them, such as being severely co-dependent. They set off red flags without knowing it and wonder why they are rejected and kept at a distance.

Oh I love this one! My roommate FIRMLY believes in the friend zone. Me, I do not. I certainly have friends that've told me they wouldn't date me because they see me as a brother/bestfriend/whathaveyou, but that is a mutual thing that we've purposely built.

Personally, I think it builds a more stable relationship to have a friendship first before dating.

I am curious as to what the women here would think. You might get more valuable insight from them.

lol I stand very much corrected then.

Well it exists, as I'm sure you have a female friend who is awesome but you wouldn't want to see naked.

I also agree that it's used as an excuse sometimes too

I guess it's a function of men and women having different brains, as it were

It’s there and it works both ways.

I have been heard the dreaded words “let’s just be friends” or “I think of you as just a friend” many times in my younger days.

But I think there are lots of times when a man and a woman are friends the woman wishes that the guy would ask them out, as well as the more common condition where they do just want to just remain friends. I have a lot of female friends (in fact almost all my friends are women) being married and faithful (so far) I don’t really think about dating any of them, but we do talk about all sorts of things, so I have heard several of them comment on having a crush on one of their friends. I always advise them to ask the guy out, but then never do, they usually say something along the lines “if he likes me he should know that I like him and ask me out” I really wish women would understand that men can’t read their minds.

As to your friend I would ask her out, better to risk being hurt by being rejected than the certainty of a lifetime of regret over what might have been.

I think that just means I don't want to date you. I have had some girl friends turn into more and some who would not. I think it is an individual choice made by each girl based on what they think about you.

You won't know until you try. I try to keep as many "what if's"
out of my life as possible.

Years ago a comedian once observed this situation and made the following rather clever (I thought) analogy.

" I have a job opening, the person I am looking for has qualities like yours, I am going to use you as a model of comparison for all the applicants, and further more I am going to ask for for your input for each one, and I would also like to be able to complain to you when I find none of the applicants measure up to you and even though you are the most qualified person, I am never going to hire you"

I've read that from somewhere…it sounds accurate!

im a strong believer in the "friend zone" my whole life ive been in the friend zone but I recently defeated the firend zone and went from being just friends to boyfriend and girlfriend,so their is hope of once your in the friend zone you cant get out