Honestly, I have always kicked against people who get offended when asked to smile. Because at times when someone has the world on their shoulders, telling them to smile can be a relief to bring them back to reality. It has happened to me so many times. That is why I have nothing against men who tell women to smile.

Plus, people who get offended when a man tells them to smile, do not have the same reaction when their girlfriend tells them to smile. So from what I have seen, the notion of "telling someone to smile" is mainly a prejudice against men. If the same anger was directed to women, It would have been understandable.

However, your points are valid. You owe no one nothing. It's your choice to smile and be humble or be rude and aggressive. I still do not think this is a subject that warrants a protest like most women take it.

If someone asks you to smile for them and you don't feel like it, just ignore them, the same way you ignore anyone making a rude gesture at you. Because the fact that you are not in the mood to be complimented doesn't mean the guy knows it. We cannot control people's actions toward us, but we can control how we respond to them.

Being asked to smile isn't sexist, is a sign of concern. It shows "you are worried their problem is taking a turn on them but you are a stranger who cannot intrude in their life." We should stop making every simple act of kindness into prejudice against women.

If time and circumstances as you show in your examples determine when is right or wrong to accept a compliment, why should we completely role out compliments as dangerous or disrespectful?