I think the classical answer is "tip your hat".
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As a woman, seriously, just give me the bro nod to acknowledge that I exist but am not that interesting to you and keep walking. If you go out of your way to show that you aren't a threat now I'm thinking you're a threat, and if you pointedly ignore me now I'm wondering if you are actually far more interested in me than you should be but you want me not to notice.
Brief eye contact while acknowledging that I exist tells me you aren't afraid of me remembering your face but that you aren't being weird and staring or trying to hide from me.
I like to have a smile as well. If I give the nod or even a cursory "hello" I try to have my body language say that I in no way expect or need any sort of response or acknowledgement.
Just don't be weird man, that's all you gotta do.
"Just don't be weird" is exactly the kind of thought that'd cause me to come off as weird. Suddenly every detail of what I do is manual and scrutinized by myself.
I live in a city, just do the same thing I do when walking past literally anyone - leave a few feet of space, eyes forward, ignore.
starts thinking so hard that my arms stop swaying
Forgot how feet work
At least she'll have a funny story about the creepy guy muttering "right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot" that she passed.
Grandma used to say nothing breaks the ice like breaking wind so give a friendly toot as you pass.
According to Brent Staples' essay from a few decades ago, about how to not be seen as threatening as a black man in the US: "And on late-evening constitutionals I employ what has proved to be an excellent tension-reducing measure: I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more popular classical composers. Even steely New Yorkers hunching toward nighttime destinations seem to relax, and occasionally they even join in the tune. Virtually everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn’t be warbling bright, sunny selections from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. It is my equivalent of the cowbell that hikers wear when they know they are in bear country."
I'm ngl, hearing a lone man whistling Vivaldi's "Spring" in the middle of the night while alone would be kinda terrifying.
Makes me think of clockwork Orange
If someone's out here in the dark with me being cultured, I am terrified.
That's eat my liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti energy.
Play dead, women are like bears.
Just act like a normal person, jesus christ
As much as this is the right answer, I understand where OP is coming from.
OP: to expand: you're not responsible for other people's fears or phobias. The best thing you can do is exactly that: nothing, just act as if the person were a guy you don't know. Trying to "prove" you're not a threat is exactly the thing a person who is a threat would do, so you're going to set off a whole bunch of alarm bells by doing that. And that's not just valid for women - at least I would be kind of creeped out if some guy did some of the things some people have mentioned in this thread.
Jesus Christ is an unusually high standard for a normal person to live up to.
If I understand the TikTok trend from a little while back, the solution is to pretend to be a bear.
Slowly lower yourself to all fours and start huffing to yourself hangry-ly
Cross the street because what if she tries talking to me? It's night, I already did all my talking for the week I wanna be introverted alone.
What with the growing population world-wide it is not unusual to meet a human when you're out walking. Remember it's probably just as scared as you are. Try to keep your cool. Don't try to feed them, don't stare at them, don't photograph them. Don't run, or they might think you're prey. It's often best to just keep going and pretend you don't see them.
Nothing will help this scenario with just 2 people.
You have to add a third party. The man needs to have a female companion, or a happy friendly dog.
If I walk alone, my 250 pound, six foot talk frame is viewed as a threat. If I take my brother's highly animated German spotted pointer with me, people approach me and want to pet the puppy.
- Make eye contact. No eye contact is creepy. It's best to err on the side of more, rather than less, eye contact, because you probably don't make enough.
- Pick up the pace. If you're walking slowly, it's going to look like you're trying to prolong the encounter, so go at least at a trot.
- Hands are threatening, so keep one or both behind your back to prevent spooking her.
- Smile! You look prettier that way. Two birds with one stone here: if you keep a smile on your face, you'll look less threatening, and you can tell her to smile to inform her that you want her to be happy.
- Pay her a compliment to put her at ease. Something non-sexual like, "you have beautiful teeth."
- It will be clear you're not a threat if she knows you've got something else. You could communicate that you're going home to eat by licking your lips. Make some smacking noises too, if it's dark.
- Clothes conceal threats, so take yours off.
HTH
See a woman in distance. Puts hands behind his back (could be a weapon). Picks up the pace. Looks straight into the eyes, lock on, force a smile so you look like a psycho and say: you have beautiful theeth.
If she doesn't call the police or starts screaming then you surely didn't follow all the points.
Calling the police is normal, as it helps her to feel safer. Don't worry, this is a synergistic response to the situation.
HTH
What kind of question is this? You just act like a normal person and keep walking. Maybe step politely to the side to avoid crashing right into them
I usually turn around and start walking backwards, peeking quickly over my shoulder and looking increasingly worried because she's chasing ME and she's getting closer!
Don't make women the victim; be a gentleman and YOU be the victim.
Shoot webbing at the closest streetlight, use it to swing to the to of the building across the street. The Rhino is trying to rob the bank again, stand back citizen!
Mind your business and keep walking. Don't be weird and stare. Maybe smile, nod your head, or say hello -- again if you can be normal. In any case keep walking.
You should tell her that you've been trying to reach her regarding her car's extended warranty.
/s
If it’s a brightly lit street, or with any other people about, I just mind my own business and walk past her. I usually hug the wall side so she won’t feel boxed in as we pass.
If it’s dimly lit, or at all sketchy, and there’s no one else around I’ll usually cross to the other side of the road. I’d rather walk a little extra distance than have someone be afraid.
Ignore her like anyone else and let her decide on her own comfort zone walking by you? If some one sees you walking alone, and starts altering their behavior because of your presence, whatever their intention, it sends the message that you have been noticed, you are being watched, they are reacting to your presence, and this indicates some kind of interest or goal in an interaction.
So just keep waking, if she wants to cross the street, just ignore her. Definitely don't yell "It's okay I'm not a rapist!" or "I have a girlfriend already!", just let her do her thing, and you keep doing yours.
Nothing, ignore them and just keep walking
The safety dance. Oo the safety dance. Yes the safety dance. The safety dance.
Ah it looks like the advice here is very similar to the other post.
"hey if you're a man i'm gonna need you to never approach a woman who's alone at night time. don't care what your intention is - unless it's an emergency, don't. you probably have no idea what the jolt of terror and/or the gnawing dread feels like in these situations. thanks."
Sometimes I’ll cross the street if it’s safe and won’t have to immediately recross to get where I’m going. If not I just keep walking and keep my eyes to myself, as long as you’re not being a staring creepass or looking her up and down you’re fine.
If the woman is uncomfortable she can alter her path. I've been that woman before but have rarely felt uncomfortable enough to cross the street or whatever. I just keep walking and either ignore or give a pleasant nod to the man to let him know I'm chill and not scared and we're two normal innocuous people passing each other.
Maybe twice in my life my spidey senses tingled and I changed my path and got out of there. Our instincts protect us.
I honestly don’t like answering these because I haven’t been put off by many people in public and the ones who do don’t need an instruction manual on how to be disarming.