Many men dislike being "friendzoned" but if a woman wants to be friends this gives an opportunity for the guy to slowly to get to know her without the pressure of dating and defining the relationship too early before you have a chance to know each other on a deeper level.

For example, if you've met someone online, and a lot of expectations have been built up, the guy could suddenly start to suffer from nervousness and anxiety at the mere thought of speaking to you for fear that the fantasy the two of you have built up in your heads could suddenly pop and disappear.

This creates a negative feedback loop in which eventually you get nowhere, but now, your relationship can't go forward and stuck in a stagnant space where nothing is happening because there is too much fear and anxiety involved.

Whereas, if you had simply started as "friends" this would ultimately put pressure off the guy and he'll feel more relaxed around you and joke and talk to you like usual instead of putting you up on a high pedestal.

So gentlemen, if a woman says she wants to be "friends" with you, take that as an opportunity to get to know her in a relaxed environment where there isn't a pressure of a relationship. This will ensure that you can connect with her in an authentic way, slowly become more emotionally intimate over time, and you'll find that she might just say after several months, "hey, I want to take things further than just friends."