Your article was thought provoking, because as I sit in the cheap seats watching men and women fight the fight in dating and mating, Women have more leadership, wealth, and access but are still succumbing to the traditions of the past.
I am 100% sensitive to the framework statement, women fear being killed by men, and men fear being laughed at by women, but if we side step that and presume an increase in safety ... why the hold back.
Confidence as we all know is the key component in being attractive to another person. Secondly, men have zero experience for feeling and being desired (outside of the rare sports, rock/rap star, uber wealthy etc).
One of my greatest learns in the past was getting hit on hard by gay men (I wasn't gay), and learning about the awkwardness of hard stares and deep thirst and desire.
So circling back, if a woman sees that guy who works hard, votes (regardless of political position), and is civil and human ... if she is an equal, why not make the first move. I am not saying she has to make the first move every time as equality and a good back and forth should be done.
You are right you need the self love and ability to recover to process rejection or awkardness since the social dance is quite new to men. The other thing too is the hard part of the fantasy of the dream man, meeting up with the reality of a good and authentic man who will have flaws, desires, and needs which may be strange, different, new or whatever to you is also going to be a challenge.
The hard part is you have dated the wrong ones and have only accessed the shallow pool of masculinity. If you find and enjoy authentic men, given society and women really truly don't know what is going on with masculinity and men "really" (this is the fault of men not women as they have to interpret and fantasize about), one will find out men have depths equal to women.
As you live in the LA area, I can't talk to the hellscape that it is for women there (as I am In Texas), but stop and think about this.
If I was single again, and I am a liberal person in Texas, can you imagine my fun of finding like minded women?
