The issue is that women are very subtle when they approach. They say hi, the get close to you, they go with lunch with you, ask for some help to YOU only, etc. but if the guy don't make a move on that point, it is over. She feels rejected and discarded, and she assumes the guy don't really want her as a partner.

Reality is that for most men even the idea of women approaching them is so alien that they don't see these cues as valid, so they rather play safe or don't even get them until it is too late. Most men simply are not mentally ready when they get lucky attention from women, so they often don't notice it or don't give it the importance it has. To be fair, I don't think this can be fixed anytime soon as social relationships keeps atomizing. Only men winning in this market are men that are used to date women, so men who have women and relationships are more able to get them and men that were not lucky will get even more autistic and don't even notice any attraction from women even if it was there. It is sad, but this is how it works and changing it is hard and often pointless anyway after certain age. At least porn is enough for many of these men, but often they crave for companionship and yet they are even unable to approach a woman that present to them open to date.

I remember a nice female neighbor I have came to my apartment to talk shit we knew about the parking gates not working. I did not feed the conversation so that probably made her feel rejected enough to not talk or smile to me anymore as she used to. Of course, I realized it too late, but women often claim they also feel rejected if the guy don't keep the wheel spinning, because women cannot push harder without looking desperate or promiscuous.

The experience of rejection is subjective. A guy can be shill after thousands of rejections or be depressed after one, so in the same token this kind of rejection for women can be as painful.