Give women space and limit yourself to reactions if they approach you. Always assume they're not interested. Do not approach them, that's predatory behavior.

I used to hike a lot but these days it's incredibly difficult to find people to hike with, they're usually at least twenty years older than me and not in the best shape anymore which rules out difficult routes. And everywhere else there are masses of stupid tourists and influencers stumbling around in their flip-flops (Because of course you wear flip-flops in the alps!), throwing trash everywhere and yelling into their smartphones when filming themselves which ruins the experience. Board and card game groups also died out in the early 2010s, that was just a short hype. A lot of things disappeared without replacement.

Be seen but not heard, got it.

Oh yes, women being cautious because they are afraid of being raped is the same as your fee fees getting hurt.

I know it's hard to read with your fragile masculinity, but please do try.

It's not hard to be normal. Be respectful to people and their boundaries. Y'all act like this is something complicated like doing taxes, it's not hard.

Just avoid behavior that is associated with predatory types. Imagine a spectrum with one extreme being "I couldn't care less" and the other being "I'm going to chase you". Choose the center. Civil and slightly friendly but not let's-be-friends friendly. Like a coworker you don't know and who works in a different department but you see each other sometimes. Be friendly enough to not make things awkward if you meet again. The rest is up to the woman.

Hmm well I can’t speak for Europe, but plenty of chill people to go hiking with in the US, plus it might not be the most challenging stuff maybe but I’ve hiked out of the grand canyon with my friends 70 yo grandma so if you want the social aspect you can still do challenging things just maybe go a little slower. Also again don’t know about Europe but there are like five weekly board game meetups in my decent sized city.

Isn't the Grand Canyon also overrun with tourists and influencers?

Don't even think about going there, they'll kidnap you and sell you for your organs, if not worse, it's not worth it.

came back to this thread to find discourse that ISN'T cancer. thank you for your sane and gentle response. if more people had your empathy, less of them would be single and hurting.

I never said that no man ever is affected by violence but when nine out of ten women got sexually assaulted or harassed and that startimg from a young age, all the while the majority of men don't seem to have problems being friends with these abusers it should be no surprise that many women will try to stay safe.

Let me introduce to you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybristophilia

Aww your atempt at offending or insulting me is cute.
You gotta try harder though.
My masculinity is fine, though, sorry to dusapoint.

Honestly I just bought my ticket to see the concert venue that seats 4 billion people

Wow, this comment section is a nightmare

That’s why they’re acquaintances, rather than friends. I agree with your assessment. I can’t consider someone a friend who assumes I’m a piece shit until proven otherwise because of my immutable characteristics. Tangentially, I also can’t consider someone a friend who thinks hell is real and that a perfectly just god will send me there. Needless to say I have a small but close friend circle.

And don't forget to tell the other girls we said hi. 🤭

Okay? Is anyone ITT saying "all women who are raped [...]?"

Semi-related: Should men who are raped be wary of women?

Of couse women should try to stay safe. Just like men. But there are differences.

If you apply the same broad definition of violence to both men and women, then men are much more likely to get attacked and they're much more likely to not survive the attack. This different experience leads to a different mindset, with the majority of women being unarmed (because they feel safe) and the majority of men being armed (because they don't feel safe). Men have a problem with understanding the female experience (Sexual harassment, rape) and women have a problem with understanding the male experience (Getting beaten to death or stabbed or shot because you did nothing more than looking at a guy or just for fun). Part of the different experience is help. Women may receive help which causes them to continue asking for help in future situations; men don't receive help which causes them to shut down and stop asking (Asking for help has pretty much the opposite effect for men, it makes things even worse). A very different experience which leads to a different mindset. Which makes it so hard for women and men to understand each other. Activism and media helped to shine a light on the female experience. Which is a good thing. But it gets ridiculous really fast when women say things like "Oh yeah, men just go relaxed and safe at night or to the grocery store or alone to a festival". Women have no idea. If they had, they wouldn't wonder why we men need to be armed at all times, even if we just go to the grocery store to get some milk. And they wouldn't wonder why we men don't ask for help in so many situations.

And no. The majority of men (which I'm part of) is not friends with predators. We are forced to tolerate them. Because they're our coworkers, our bosses, or the partners of our sisters or daughters, or part of the political party which we consider to be the lesser evil - they're everywhere. We have to live with them.