[acdha]

The “friend zone” is just an excuse some men come up with for not wanting to admit that attraction wasn’t mutual. It’s really creepy to think that they deserve sex for stringing someone along with the false pretense of being a friend — would they ever use “dead end” to describe a same sex friendship which didn’t lead to sex?

[b0rsuk]

And to answer the second part of your question, being bisexual(bi-curious) I wouldn't mind having sex with a male friend if he's in shape, and I would even propose if I lived in a less homophobic country. My same-sex attraction is much weaker though and I can control it, whereas with women it tends to be a slippery slope and gets stronger over time. The bottom line is being friends with a woman I actually desire is harmful to me in the long term. I've been there and not going to make that mistake again.

[b0rsuk]

And I think it's mildly insulting to be classified as a subpar male, a "male female friend". Worse, because she's not going to trust me as much as her proper female friends, she would always be on guard. Certainly damaging to the male ego. I don't cultivate such relationships unless I don't feel attracted to the woman in question. Think of the "disabled" "friend" of Mary from "There's Something About Mary".

[acdha]

> I don't cultivate such relationships unless I don't feel attracted to the woman in question.

This is certainly a common dynamic, with a lot of cultural reinforcement, but my point was simply that it's not the fault of the woman but rather the man who's trying to will something into existence and, in many cases, pretending to be something he's not.