All men should be aware of this

Yes I agree she is free to do this but the man is not obliged to then do anything but carry on as he was. He cannot be aware of how she is feeling or be expected to adapt his behaviour.

OP this is unreasonable, I would have done the same as him - stop, check you aren't about to be in anyone's way while you get something out of your bag, if no one is around I then carry on if someone is I look for somewhere less in their way.

Unreasonable to expect men to adapt to every little worry you have. Don't walk where you are afraid.

You absolutely do not know that , I do,however I can separate hysterical frothing with reality.

I agree - back in the day men were taught how to behave around lone women eg cross the road rather than follow or pass close but those days are long gone. People in public now are generally more focused on their own rights and entitlement to do as they please and would almost feel affronted at the thought of having to take anyone else into account.

I think it’s a shame you don’t want to live in a mindful cooperative society where we treat others how we would like to be treated but you do you and I’ll do me.

It’s really not.
he talks about the difference between instincts and prejudice at length and how to check and rationalise it.

So you do that but the entire male population does not have to watch their every step everyone they go out for a walk and neither do women.

That book sounds racist.

I don’t live in fear but if I have an instinct I honour that and I don’t rationalise it. There is a difference.

That's 63% of convictions.

I'm sure I don't need to remind you how very few sexual assaults, rapes and street robberies are [a] reported; [b] investigated; [c] prosecuted; [d] convicted.

By the time you get to [d] it's a tiny percent of vanishingly few.

By the law of averages most men will be working and not the slightest bit interested. You may want to live in fear watching your back every 5 minutes but I frankly don’t want me, my daughters, sons or husband to.

So crack on yourself but in answer to the thread the op is being ridiculous.

I love this book.
he also talks about the difference and if you’ve ever been in a life threatening situation you soon learn. The instinct is quiet and calm and you fucking listen.

But how would she know without knowing him? What if you are that unlucky person and you ignore your instincts and you die?
you can be risky with your life and safety - doesn’t mean everyone else has to.

I was going to say the same, as an excuse for giving Gavin de Becker's indispensable book another plug:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gift-Fear-Gavin-Becker-ebook/dp/B0036Z9U2A

His point is that we've spent two million years evolving shit-hot instincts for very good reasons. We should honour them, and we should 'train' them by using observation and learning. He uses an example of someone being nervous about getting in a lift with a black man.

The person should always act on their inner warnings, but would be wise to recognise that they're being influenced by social messaging in this case. A lift passenger of any colour who is somehow out of place and 'wrong' would be the one to avoid.

He's a really interesting person, not some lifestyle guru influencer. Video:
https://www.reddit.com/r/JoeRogan/comments/ttyp9k/1800_gavin_de_becker_the_joe_rogan_experience/

He really did not do anything OP. if I was the man I would say I went for a walk in the woods, I passed a women who then turned around and starting following me. I stopped to get something out of my bag and she went rushing past me it was very odd.

I know!!!

And not only that only a tiny percentage of men are responsible for violent/ sexual crimes on women. 1% is supposed to commit 63% of them so contrary to what MN frothers want us to believe the likelihood of the man who was getting something out of his rucksack being the slightest bit interested in the op is very low.

Very few cases make the news because of the frequency. The ones that do are usually memorable in some way, victims of a serial killer, someone who is young/ pretty, someone who is initially missing.

And this is why Im not labelling this man anything. I even said in a pp the same as you - he might have even have done this on purpose to make her feel more comfortable, but the reality is it made her feel more vulnerable as she had to pass him and lose sight of him again.
shes not unreasonable and neither was he. We have conflicting feelings and its kindest to just treat each other how we would want to be treated. I don’t think it’s a big ask that men are concious that women might be frightened of them and to be kind about it

Honestly, I do not understand how women have managed to be so brainwashed by social media and each other that they're convinced they're in mortal danger of being abducted or worse every time they leave the house. Reality check: men are around 3x more likely to be murdered and 2x more likely to be attacked by a stranger as women. Only 0.0005% of women are murdered each year in the uk and the perpetrators are overwhelmingly their partners or someone they know with only 6% of the 0.0005% murdered by a stranger. While it does happen it's hard to overstate how rare it is and you are genuinely far more likely to be struck by lightning than killed by a stranger. Add to this that you were in broad daylight on a road where other people were passing and you are being very unreasonable.

Did he act dodgy?
I'm a man and I might have done the same. Stopping to rummage in a bag allows her to walk past him to create some distance. If he ignored and kept walking they would have been close for longer.

Or maybe he was just rummaging for his bear suit?

What a ridiculous thread

She said she was taken aback because she'd assumed it was a woman..perhaps if they'd had short hair she'd have turned back before he passed her.

I absolutely wouldn't think someone was partially to blame if they were attacked anywhere at any time. Logic would suggest its those posters who think there is inherent danger in every contact with a man who would think women should change their behaviour to minimise it... those who agree the woman was right trust her instincts.

This is going too far. Yes men should be aware that following close behind women when there's nobody else about at night is a really stupid thing to do. In fact the same is true no matter the sex of either party. But you're pretty much berating this chap for just existing and doing the same thing as you - being out for a stroll. Just because it 'felt dodgy' to you doesn't mean there's anything in it; it does sound like the problem is with you here.

You’re a bit unable to see past your own viewpoint and male centred, yes

I don’t think the OP would have been happy unless he had made himself disappear!

saying a man can’t stop and get something out of his bag is just taking the hatred of men to extremes.