Following the Discovery of an Amusing Friendzone Definition Online, a Lady Elaborates on How Men and Women View Friendship
A Tumblr user had an 'aha!' moment regarding a tweet that entertainingly depicted the act of friendzoning.
Tumblr is brimming with thoughts, discourse, and conversations. Some of it responds to questions that no one truly needed to know the answers to.
For instance, if dragons are predators, why do they have eyes on the sides of their heads? Additionally, there are well-rooted and intriguing posts that make you think about all the extreme things we humans do.
A user on Tumblr who saw a tweet that cleverly portrayed the concept of friendzoning provided an exceptionally detailed explanation of how everything really makes sense. Her online post went viral along the way as well.
She clarifies in her post that everything makes sense because it all comes down to cultural and social conditioning. She states that men are discouraged from sharing their feelings, particularly with other men.
Consequently, they rely almost solely on their romantic partners for emotional expression. In contrast, women are socialized in a way that allows them to be expressive about their feelings.
As a result, they cultivate various types of relationships, including those that are deeply rooted in emotional support. For example, friendship means having someone who listens to all your concerns and keeps you company.
Relationships are rarely simple, but that doesn’t prevent individuals from explaining them to make them easier to understand.
Alara J. Rogers, a Tumblr user, saw this tweet about the friendzone, and a lightbulb moment occurred
Matthew Bland (not the actual photo)Here's the online post Alara saw...
Tumblr user Alara J. Rogers, with the username 'alarajrogers', coincidentally found a Tumblr post that included a screenshot of two tweets. One is the original tweet, and the second is a reply to that tweet.
For most people, this is a humorous interpretation of the act of friendzoning someone, but for Alara, it was a lightbulb moment.
alarajrogersShe proceeded to clarify how this entertaining interpretation of friendzoning and the reaction to it really makes sense.
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She continues to say...
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Currently, there is a distinction in how men perceive sharing feelings as part of a romantic relationship, while women view it as part of a romantic relationship and, more importantly, a part of friendship as well. This misconception leads men to believe that there should be a romantic connection when there isn’t one.
In the end, both parties become confused and perhaps even hurt. Men suffer from being conditioned in this way, while women struggle because they cannot connect with male friends for basic friendship.
Moving on...
alarajrogers
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An example of patriarchy...
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So...
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In turn, both parties end up confused and perhaps even hurt, at the very least. 'So men suffer terribly from being conditioned in this way. But women suffer in that they can’t reach out to male friends for basic friendship.'
Both end up suffering in different ways...
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alarajrogers
For that reason...
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Alara states that the best way to address this issue is to teach young men that it is okay to express their feelings, to care for their friends, to communicate their needs, and to share their issues with friends. Moreover, both genders will benefit when this social practice is changed.
Fixing it...
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It didn’t take long for the post to go viral on Tumblr. It received more than 420,000 notes, which is Tumblr’s method of collecting likes and reblogs.
Before you go, what is your take on this 'friendzoning' definition? Why not share your opinion on this in the comments below?