You've probably heard of the “friend zone” before. If you’re a woman, chances are you may have even been accused of it. Popularized in TV and media, the friend zone refers to a situation in which one member of a friendship, most often male, wishes to enter into a romantic or sexual relationship, while the other one doesn’t. Most importantly, though, it makes little sense.

There are a whole bunch of myths surfing around this concept, like sexual entitlement, assuming heterosexuality, and believing that platonic relationships are somehow lesser than romantic ones. But people on social media have armed themselves with a sense of humor and taken it to the joke level to make their point.

The result is a hilarious compilation of funny tweets and jokes about the FZ that should make anyone rethink the logic behind it.

#1

Image credits: ourglassfigures

#2

Image credits: solomongeorgio

#3

Image credits: kendrawcandraw

The term "friend zone," coined in a 1994 episode of Friends where Joey refers to a lovelorn Ross as the “mayor of the friend zone,” has become so deeply embedded in our society and popular culture that we almost never question it. Many articles put the friend zone into their regular focus, writing on how to avoid it and what to do if you’re being friend-zoned.

#4

Image credits: unvvelcome

#5

Image credits: davidbyrne

#6

But when men refer to the term "friend zone," they are explicitly aiming at women to show how much they’ve hurt their feelings. These who are aware of the fact that the friend zone is indeed a flawed concept criticize it for taking women’s agency out of the picture by making the relationship transactional. If a man is being nice to a woman, it suggests that this feature alone should be enough to make the woman want to pursue their relationship in a romantic direction.

#7

Image credits: lovemysub

#8

Image credits: thisisanatattack

#9

Image credits: may

By 2020, we all should be aware that a woman has a right to say "no" whenever and to whoever she feels the need to. And while being a good friend is surely awesome, it doesn’t allow anyone to expect anything concrete in return. After all, even if being rejected can be truly dreadful, it can’t be demonized at the expense of a woman.