Why is it some men get all offended if a woman they don't know is wary around them?

[JoePhilly]

41. As a guy, I try to be very careful what I say to women that I don't know ... and even some of those

that I do know.

For instance, I know a woman at work who gives people hugs. She's really nice. We had not seen each other in a while and we ran into each other with a larger group of others. She was hugging various people, she was going to hug me, I stayed back. She had told me in confidence (a year or so prior) that some women at work thought she used her attractiveness to get ahead, and that she hated it. It doesn't help that she divorced her husband and married the guy she was cheating with. We are friends, and I would have hugged her, but I immediately worried about the message it would send to others.

I was working with another woman at work, she was new to our area, and so she was doing an objective review of some of what the team produced as if she was one of our customers. As she and I were discussing her impressions, she said, "I enjoyed doing this, after all, you're only a virgin once!" ... meaning that she'd only be new to the material for a brief time ... but the phrase she used ... what should I, as a man, say to her? If I had said to her, at the start ... "thanks for doing this review ... after all, you're only a virgin once!" I'd have probably ended up in front of review board and reprimanded for my insensitivity.

I tell these stories because, if I was that guy, I'd have been aware that the things I said to a woman I don't know, could be taken in a way I did not intend. And so, I'd be very cautious. As a guy, you don't just jump from "hi" to "are you staying out of trouble?" with a woman you don't know.