Cold approach is notoriously difficult and has a far lower success rate than warm approach. This is because women are naturally skeptical, and often fearful, of male strangers who approach them in real life or contact them online. Women cite a lack of knowledge about a man’s personality or social standing, which hurts both attraction and a woman’s subjective sense of safety. Women want to see a man interact smoothly with others and be well liked, as this conveys status and social skills, which they find attractive, and it also signals, in their eyes, that a man is safe, but that isn’t necessarily true.

Women will repeat negative statements about men as a whole, including the myth that “men are only after sex”, but will not have these same criticisms of their male friends. They actually believe their male friends are part of the few good men. This perception means they’re unaware that their male “friends” are usually attracted to them. Also, according to available statistics, women are significantly more likely to be sexually assaulted by a man they know than by a male stranger. Despite this, women are somehow made to believe they can instinctively detect what a predatory man looks like, when they have no such ability. Most men cold approaching or dming women do so in a relatively respectful way and have good intentions, and almost all of them are in no way dangerous. Women shouldn’t fear men just because they’re men, and if they’re genuinely concerned about their safety, they should go beyond a surface level analysis.