This theme of conversation reminds me of an experience I had with my brother. We were walking down the street late at night and we were gaining on a woman on the same side walk. As we approached her, I veered off the sidewalk and crossed to the other side of the street, and we passed her. After a while, my brother asked me why I had crossed the street. I said that we had been gaining on that woman and I didn’t want to scare her.
He said that was what he thought. Then I asked him if he would have crossed the street. He answered that if he had been alone he would have crossed the street a bit earlier than when we did. We both had the same thought - him a little earlier.

I think the moral of this story is that it’s everyone’s job not to scare the shit out of other people. I, even as a female, was aware that our greater speed and greater numbers could be interpreted as threatening, and so I crossed the street. Males often act as if they are the only ones doing this because like my brother, you “cross the street” earlier than I “crossed the street.” This makes sense as men are on average more threatening than women, so yes, you might give bigger berth than I do.

I personally think that everyone has the right to ask someone else out (once - if they say no, you need to respect boundaries) provided there is no potential conflict of interest.
That being said, if we are going to be promoting a gender role on whose responsibility it is to ask someone out, I try to promote women doing the asking out. Men always have to navigate the inherent physical size difference (which isn’t going away) and other patriarchy power dynamics (which aren’t going away fast enough) to get in the good graces of women (basing off heterosexual relationships in the advice obviously). It is much better to have women ask men out as a societal norm in my opinion. For women I tell them it works in your favor. The chances of you picking out an asshole out of group of men is much less than an asshole picking you out and targeting you.

I tend to try and be cautious because I'm a pretty big guy and I always get told that I look mean. I don't want to scare women, especially when it's just me and the woman in a certain area with nobody else around. I've felt this way before Weinstein and Cosby though lol

Not sure if I ever truly 'flirt' . Express interest but not flirt? Otherwise I try to always listen for the word 'no' . Sometimes it's body language which can be more difficult. If I'm not sure I ask. I also need to see where I am at. Sometimes it's better to not even try. Kind where I am at right now.

Yes we are. its a roll of the dice

There is absolutely a fear of men in a lot of women. I think this is a new thing, but some women seem to think the only men who aren't serial rapists are murderers. I don't see this as only a problem with males. This fear is almost completely irrational but instead of being a mental illness it is supported by society. An entire gender is being judged by some of our worst examples.
The point is a cat lady who can barely leave the house isn't due to men and girls who freak out by approach or even persistence are responsible for their feelings not some guy hitting her up.

There is absolutely a fear of men in a lot of women. I think this is a new thing, but some women seem to think the only men who aren't serial rapists are murderers. I don't see this as only a problem with males. This fear is almost completely irrational but instead of being a mental illness it is supported by society. An entire gender is being judged by some of our worst examples.
The point is a cat lady who can barely leave the house isn't due to men and girls who freak out by approach or even persistence are responsible for their feelings not some guy hitting her up.

The #MeToo movement just shows how MANY women deal with aggressive sexual approaches daily. It doesn't in anyway make men who DON'T do it a target of having to be afraid of women.

This "I don't know how to approach women now" sounds like, "geez if I can't tell her to suck my dick, how am I gonna let her know I liker her".

I feel both sexes and all orientations should get comfortable with just being open about expressing interest and not heaping it on men to be intiators. Some men who have said that to me, I have said, "approach a woman like you would any male". If you think you want to be friends with a guy, do you walk up and pet his dick, or ask him to look at yours? Or, is it ok to grab and kiss a guy you want to be friends with and just met, or follow him in your car, or walk to close to him in a grocery. NO? Good, you know the rules, don't do it to women either.

LoL... I think the men that "are afraid of approaching women" as a result of the "me too" movement, probably are the ones that should be afraid! Seriously, it's not that hard to be respectful and attentive to the person you are with. Maybe they need to go read some articles on the internet if they really are clueless... hint, I don't mean the articles that have titles like "How to make any woman sleep with you"... ha ha ha.

Look up the word 'femicide'. Women are murdered simply because they are women. Unfortunately the men who hate women this much don't wear labels, so it's impossible to tell who's who.

This is why so many women are fearful. The threat is always there and this car situation sounds creepy. It reminded me of Ted Bundy.

Men need to be mindful of this context and they need to prove that they're genuine. This is not the fault of the genuine man. Genuine men are paying the price for the minority of haters that are out there.