Caroline, you are thinking too much. And no, I'm not setting us back to decades. I do believe women should encourage men to express their interest but only if the attraction is mutual.

Any confident man will appreciate a woman who expresses her interest in a confident and respectful manner. The men whining in my comment are the insecure one who can’t stand confident women. And it will be a terrible mistake to date those.

I have touched the topic on "why men should do the chase than women" in different articles and it's not about patriarchal standards. Biologically, men are created to handle rejection better than women.

This is why you see women criticize their self-worth when they are rejected. But men just move on with no hard feelings to their ego. You can read these posts to get an idea on my point.

https://medium.com/mystic-minds/the-man-should-love-the-woman-more-c1e3878f5c93

https://medium.com/better-advice/myth-or-fact-men-only-want-sex-in-a-relationship-and-nothing-more-55e87b779b75