You've just crossed over into the Friend Zone

The "Friend Zone" is a concept I recently learned about from some of my male coworkers and friends. It sounds harmless enough, but actually, the FZ is a state of relative limbo in which a guy becomes trapped when his friend girl puts up a barrier in their relationship, dashing his hopes of ever potentially being more than "just friends." RhettandLink of YouTube describes it as a "tormented pit of relational Hades" and "the place where single guys go to die." Basically, it's hard to escape.

According to guys I've talked to (and the link above), ways a guy can know he's been Friend Zoned by a girl include- but are not limited to- her:
-Asking him to a movie with a bunch of her girl friends.
-Limiting hugs to the side variety.
-Going for a high five, or calling him "buddy" or any cutesy variation of his own name.
-Explicitly stating through a text message that she doesn't want to be more than friends - before he even tries for a date (true story).

Admittedly, some of these could be bad signs, but at the same time, I evaluate my interactions with guy friends and in some cases, I think these behaviors can indicate uncertainty about how to act - not because the girl doesn't want to be more than friends, but because she doesn't want him to shy away if she indicates too much interest. Of course there are girls that are nothing like me outside the biological sense, so with them, I'm sure there may be an eternal FZ.

That being said, girls are decidedly not the only ones who stick their friends of the opposite gender in an awkward zone of "friends only." Guys do it to girls all the time and I'm telling you from experience that it really bites.

From mine and other girls' experiences, a guy indicates that he's placed a girl in the FZ by:
-Asking her - and her friends - for suggestions on asking girls for their phone numbers.
-Inviting her over to play video games (not so bad, right? She loves video games) - with a bunch of his guy friends.
-Leaving the room to set up a date with another girl during said video game party.
-Asking hypothetical questions that begin, "So, if you were a girl..." (true story, though not mine).

Now, I'm sure it depends on the situation and some of these can be misinterpreted just like the other side, but generally, these experiences tell a girl, "You won't be going on a date any time soon; get used to it." As a girl who grew up with all brothers, and maybe spent more time being "one of the guys" than honing her feminine wiles, I now spend most of my time in the FZ. You could say it's my territory by default, since I certainly don't have to defend it (wildlife reference). To be honest, I tend to get along better with guys and love having their friendship. The problem is that I'd like to date a guy or two at some point, and it seems like most people are quite content to keep their friends close - but at a comfortable distance.