All men should be aware of this

Maybe he thought you were following him? I would feel incredibly uncomfortable if I walked past someone on a secluded path in a wooded area who then turned around and started following me. I may pretend to be looking for something in my bag to let them walk past me.

"I'm just going to leave this here in the hope that some will read it and think about it"

How very condescending of you....

In your first post you speed walked past him, now you are saying he was blocking a narrow path.

Thank you for this information. I suspected that it was much greater than actually being attacked by a stranger.

I sincerely hope that the OP seeks some form of therapy so that she gets over her fear of men. Living your life in fear is no way to live your life.

This reminds me of a talk I once attended on racial micro aggressions where a young, heavy set Nigerian man spoke about how every time he queued to use an ATM, the white folk in front would start behaving strangely, looking around wildly, getting flustered, etc. All this strange behaviour based on their prejudice and racist assumptions; their perception that they were in danger of being robbed. Imagine having to deal with that every day...

When we see a woman in a hijab we don't think 'She's a terrorist and she's out bomb something' because the reality of that thought is bizarre and ludicrous and is one that is formed through bigotry and prejudice.

I'm just going to leave this here in the hope that some will read it and think about it:

Prejudice is a preconceived, usually negative, judgment or opinion about an individual or group formed without complete knowledge, often based on characteristics like race, gender, religion, or age. It involves unfair, irrational attitudes that lead to stereotyping and discrimination. Prejudice stems from cognitive categorization and can cause social conflict.

I got off the train at 10pm last night onto a quiet platform, and checked my messages while walking.

I looked up to see a man walking towards my direction extending his arms to his sides in a manner that would have had his right hand on a trajectory to collide with my body. He seemed intoxicated.

I am 50kg and 5'4" so not a large person, but have a well practiced resting bitch face, straightened my back, and ploughed on. He retracted his arm enough that it did not collide with me, but his arms remained outstretched. I kept walking, put my phone in my bag, listened for footsteps, and got my keys in hand - just in case. Looking around, I saw that he was still where I passed him.

We do come across people like this who either want to intimidate or attempt to assault you. So, I get how it feels in the moment.

However, that does not mean that every male is a threat and needs to vacate the area simply because I am there.

Well not if a woman makes accusations when he’s perfectly innocent it isn’t unreasonable to feel uncomfortable.Women can also strike people from behind with a weapon and try being a gay man or a man of colour.

What planet are you on? The ignorance and sexism on here is off the scale.

No, you're not getting the memo, it is unreasonable for men to feel uncomfortable when outside alone, especially if the "threat " is an innocent, delicate woman. He's being a wuss/stupid if he thinks he's at risk around a woman.

I know!!!!

Maybe he felt uncomfortable at you suddenly turning around and seemingly following him?

I'm so sorry for your son. Honestly, so much of this seems like old fashioned sexism, women are weak and need to be protected, men are big and strong and should never be afraid (eg men should never be afraid when walking alone).

I haven't actually seen any men saying that. I have seen posters accusing people (myself included) of being men because whilst acknowledging and understanding op's anxiety, we don't think the man did anything wrong. I have seen one man wondering exactly what the right behaviour would have been.

How dare you.

My son did not ask to be raped, had never been involved in criminal activities, he doesn’t go to pubs or drink.Posts like this beggars belief. The male hatred on here beggars belief. Just vile.

Also women break the law and engage in criminal activities. Are those that do and end up raped not worthy of sympathy or care? Rape is rape whatever the circumstances or lifestyle of the victim.

What did the man do wrong in the op?

"That old chestnut.
Men are at greater risk of violent crime because they are far more likely to be involved in criminal activities and also because men are far more likely to get into fights when drinking every weekend up and down the country."

That's some nice victim blaming there. Guess men are asking for it huh? Imagine the reaction a man would get if he said women were more likely to be attacked because they worked in criminal activities like brothels or got into sexual activities they regretted later when drinking every weekend up and down the country and ignored all the day to day experiences of women.

Society largely still frowns on any man attacking a woman; prisoners convicted of sex crimes are targets for other male prisoners. Men do not benefit from this protection, albeit the balance of risks for them is different.

One time I caught a train to an area I had never caught a train to. There was a massive Islander guy who was walking behind me and realised I was uncomfortable as I kept turning around. He called out “I’m not following you! You’re fine!” and laughed.

I figured it would happen to him often as he was intimidating.

If men don’t want you to worry then they will do things that make you not worry.

Do you always think big bad men are out to get you in every incident where you find yourself alone?
A woman can murder you too.
Fancy living life with that out in the universe before you step out the door. Life must be terrifying for you to navigate with this as the focus.
As I've already said... Councelling.
This is extreme. Can't work out which is the worst part that you expect everyone is after specifically you because you're that awesome that you draw this attention to yourself or that you can't be alone near someone of the male species because they'll get you.

Completely bizarre. And look how long the thread is. A mixed bag of equally batshit females thinking all men are after them and those who think this is OTT.

It sounds as though he was wary of you.

That's not entirely true. Far more men are attacked by a stranger, just going about their normal life, than women. Nearly all the men in my life have been mugged, or victims of attempted mugging. Ordinary, decent, sober, law abiding men.
My best friend was just sitting on the bus, FFS, when he was punched in the face and robbed on his way home from work.

I don't think the man did anything wrong. I do understand why the OP was anxious despite that.
As you say people do get attacked injured and killed. In the vast majority of cases, by men. So a wariness on encountering a strange man in a remote location would be understandable from a woman, or from a man given men attack each other as well as us.
Unfortunately because in this instance it is difficult to see how this particular man could have acted differently, people (some of whom I don't believe to be posting in good faith) have leapt on that in order to discredit the main point of the post, which was OPs wish that men in general could understand, empathise and be thoughtful in their actions around us.
I think its possible to conclude both that this particular man probably couldn't act any differently, but in general men could. And indeed, many do.
Yet instead the thread has taken a frankly ridiculous turn with people insisting without a shred of evidence or rationale that it was OP who was the intimidating person in the scenario. If people are genuinely of the belief that the average man is likely to be frightened by a woman behind him in the woods, then all I can say is that people must move in very different circles of men than I do.

I was less commenting on the actual events of the OP but more generally on how some men feel the need to the need to explain how the woman's feelings are invalid.

As to what the man in the OP could have done different, well to be honest I don't know, however it could be that it was how he opened the rucksack that was seen as a threat, I don't know.

Putting myself in the position of the man then I wouldn't have stopped but would have carried on walking, obviously if the woman was walking faster than me I would have stood aside to let her past.

Absolutely. I thought I'd made it very clear that he could potentially have attacked her in any of many ways, and that she could have been in great danger. I don't think anybody on here is criticising OP or any other woman for being very wary of what men could do to them.

The issue is of her calling out his 'behaviour', when he did nothing odd or unusual whatsoever... unless we randomly want to criticise him for having long, 'unmanly' hair (and if so, are we going to criticise women for having short hair and potentially unnecessarily scaring other women who think they're a man from a distance?) - when she was the one who exhibited odd, potentially scary behaviour and not him. Whom is it going to help if men are called out for any of the following and being urged not to do it:
Walking through a wood?
Stopping to get something from his bag?
Being followed by a woman who suddenly changes her direction and walks close behind him?

What did this man actually do wrong? Or was it just being a man out in public that made him automatically wrong?

By the way, tragically, people do get attacked and injured or killed in public - I wish it were only a far-fetched fictional scenario, but it can and does happen.

And how would you modify your behaviour in this situation? You're walking along and a faster walking woman is behind you so you do what?