“Friend Zone” is a phrase that is fairly new to the world first appearing in a Friends episode from the 90s. Despite its recent origins, the expression is fairly well-known and has inspired videos and memes revolving around the topic.

The issue with the word is that it is often used as a way to shame people into feeling bad about rejecting someone and shows how little people value friendships, especially in regards to opposite-sex relationships.

No one should ever feel bad for having to say no to a relationship. Sure a connection may be strong, but that in no way means that the other person feels anything other than platonic feelings. It is better to reject someone from that start and get over it as opposed to dragging on a relationship that is going nowhere except splitsville.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with having negative feelings after being rejected. It is natural to feel sad or even awkward after letting your feelings be known and having them be unreciprocated, but getting angry at the other person because of it is not okay.

It is not right if the first thought after being rejected is to immediately go on a tangent about how the other person is at fault for not seeing a potential romantic relationship. When people go into a friendship the only expectation that should come out of it is a friendship, nothing more and nothing less.

When someone ends a friendship with another person after getting rejected, that makes it seem like that friendship meant nothing to the romantic pursuer.

The friend zone now is a horrible concept. The idea behind it seems innocent enough, but how it is used is pathetic. Being rejected is a part of life that should be expected and respected. Remember, friendships are not necessarily stepping stones to romantic relationships.