Good article. I can't speak much to how it is for younger people these days, but I've had a lot of female platonic friends.

For me, there is no such thing as a friend zone horror. Some of my best female friendships have started out as mutual flirts. That's just part of the connection process. "I'm attracted to this person. I wonder what that's about." If we think with our genitals, we can't really get to the answer.