Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
Well, depending upon reality and one's perceptions of it, it could be that a very vocal group came up with it out of bitterness and some level of misogyny and frustration and it's been co-opted for slightly less objectionable use since then because it's considered to be a somewhat useful shorthand and the identity of the term is still... coalescing? Evolving?
That's what I think: people use it with all its blamey connotations, and then when they're called on it load it up with qualifiers and "what I actually meant was..."

First known expression of the Friend Zone is pretty benign, and sorta involves useful advice (for Friends...), but still has all that "you're stuck there! Trapped forever!" crap.