Gonna disagree with you here.

The takeaway is that more men AND women should be like Ivan.

That includes initiative, respect, a cultivating type of basic investment, and patience.

Look at it logically. If you want to maximize opportunities for connections and keep it fair, then everyone has to participate in forging those connections.

If you see someone who tweaks some interest for you, you make it known regardless of your gender. You give them some space and wait for a response. See what happens.

To be fair though, in order for women stepping up on the initiative front, men HAVE TO respond to it. It has to be successful in order to establish as a normalized behavior.

That includes noticing when women are signaling interest in you to begin with, first off, and then Secondly, not slamming that connection down immediately because "I have to be in charge".

Ask any woman who has no problem with taking initiative and has tried.....that's what happens most often. The men are either completely oblivious, immediately dismissive and hostile, or both.