I feel like men *would* offer me a seat, but the women just react so quickly to the sight of a mother carrying a toddler that they never get a chance! https://t.co/wwkLgbN6Lt

— Robyn Doolittle (@robyndoolittle) January 7, 2019

The hesitation is because decent men are scared of being labelled a harasser, worried that they’ll get the “I have a boyfriend” line when they’re just trying to do something nice, or otherwise be rejected/cold shouldered in some bizarre way. Just as women are harassed constantly, this sort of thing happens to men constantly.

If a woman speaks to me in public is about the only time I will engage with a woman I don’t know, and even then I keep it as cursory, neutral, and clipped as possible no matter what she says/does. Most men who aren’t bastards will be doing the same these days.

Yes, it’s a bad equilibrium for everyone, but what’s the alternative?