My latest book is The One Who Swam With The Fishes.

"A mesmerizing account of the well-known story of Matsyagandha ... and her transformation from fisherman’s daughter to Satyavati, Santanu’s royal consort and the Mother/Progenitor of the Kuru clan." - Hindustan Times

"Themes of fate, morality and power overlay a subtle and essential feminism to make this lyrical book a must-read. If this is Madhavan’s first book in the Girls from the Mahabharata series, there is much to look forward to in the months to come." - Open Magazine

"A gleeful dollop of Blytonian magic ... Reddy Madhavan is also able to tackle some fairly sensitive subjects such as identity, the love of and karmic ties with parents, adoption, the first sexual encounter, loneliness, and my favourite, feminist rage." - Scroll



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6 February 2015

7 Reasons Why The Word “Friendzone” Should Be Banned Forever

What is a “friendzone”? According to Urban Dictionary, it is:
What you attain after you fail to impress a woman you're attracted to. Usually initiated by the woman saying, "You're such a good friend". Usually associated with long days of suffering and watching your love interest hop from one bad relationship to another. Verb tense is "Friend-ed"

Does anyone else see an essential problem with this? I see loads.


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1.     The word “friend zone” is often used in a negative way, meaning that men and women can’t be friends unless it’s a consolation prize.

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2.     Um, so, THANKS, dudes, unless you can bang me, I’m a bitch?
 
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3.     I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that every time you were funny or nice to me you were basically auditioning to be a love interest. 
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4.     I’m sorry also that moaning about how you got “friend zoned” makes everyone say “poor you” a lot.
 
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5.     Let’s get this clear: romantic love is great. Being attracted to someone is also great. You know what beats all those things? Friendship.
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6.     It leads to a lot of problematic areas. What is “leading on”? How do you define someone being a “tease”?  These grey areas are the same ones that sometimes lead to sexual assault.

 
-->7.     So, let’s just assume unless someone actually says they like you with those many words coming out of their mouth, that they think of you as a friend.

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PS:  TL;DR? To drive home the point better than I did, here’s a lovely comic on Friend Zone girl.
 

5 comments:

  1. Points 5, 6, 7... bang on; couldn't agree more!

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  2. Right? You'd be surprised how often this comes up!

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  3. Enjoyed the post. Bang on, the truth told. Coming here after ages and glad to read this post in MRM style:)

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  4. Very valid points! Made so much sense. Especially loved point 5.

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