I think that men and women can be friends. If they have the same tastes and hobbies. But as far as friend zoning is concerned, no both parties are not friends I think they both have ulterior motives. As a male, if you're orbiting a girl hoping for an opportunity to get into a relationship She's not a friend.It’s fine, without debates the only outcome is violence.
Both men and women have the capacity for great evil. We can all point fingers at each other of who is worse but at the end of the day we all suffer at the hands of others to include our own self. We are our own worst enemy.
She's potential partner. And for a woman who knows that a guy wants to be in a relationship with you and you keep him around knowing that he'll never get what he wants from you, that's just as bad in my opinion. I can only assume someone would do that for an ego boost.