Is there any validity to the concept of "the friend zone"?

I edited the original question a bit, and here's that original:

The "Friend Zone"

Is there any validity to the concept of the "friend zone," which is often characterized as the situation so called "good guys" find themselves in when courting members of the opposite sex. These "good guys" often use the concept to describe the frustration of watching the women they desire date "bad boys" while they sit over to the side waiting for their chance to graduate from being JUST friends to being "more." People of a feminist persuasion suggest that this concept devalues a woman's right to determine the context and standard of their sexual/romantic interests, and that it treats a woman's sexual acceptance as something that a man is entitled to by virtue of not being a douche, and that being relegated to the "friend zone" is a grave injustice. Do they have a point or are they just being dickbags? What standards should a woman employ when deciding the criteria of her sexual/romantic relationships? Is she being unjust when those standards include "bad boy" characteristics and exclude things like sensitivity and being a good listener? Are women shooting themselves in the foot with the types of men they date and the types they put in the "friend zone?"

**

I specifically excluded the question on "What standards should a woman employ when deciding the criteria of her sexual/romantic relationships?" because I think that's a bit far afield... but I think it would make a great question on its own.

Your version is much more concise and much less profane. ;-)

Is it not possible for a man to place a woman in "the friend zone"? Or does this refer exclusively to males having unrequited amorous feelings for females? :-0

I think the concept is not dependent upon gender.