Can girls make the first move in this day and age?

Here in Spain it's very bad, women never approach men. I find that it's better in Ireland and you're probably right in saying that in Scandinavia it's better again.

It’s whatever each person feels comfortable with, there are no rulebooks. Unless you are a follow the trend kind of person....

It has nothing to do with being afraid of looking like a predator or anything like that, men are afraid of approaching women because a lot of them these days are cruel.

A little bit late to the party here, but I hope ultimately the OP showed some sort of interest, just so that she could gauge if he really was for her or not.

Coming from the perspective of a man in his late-thirties and thinking about it over the last day or two, I can pretty much say that any relationship or involvement I have had with a woman has emanated from her initially. Sometimes I got lucky with work projects etc and got to meet girls whom I wouldn't have had the chance to ordinarily, but it seems to me that women basically initiate things most of the time. In fact, I would go as far as to say that where any girl I asked out without getting to know her a bit, she invariably said no. So random invitations to ladies whom I had seen around, but hadn't had any meaningful interaction with, pretty much had a zero percent success rate.

The difference of course is that women make the first move in more subtle ways. Sure, I have had girls asking me out in the more traditional way, but once or twice in my entire life I would say. What is infinitely more common is them liking something about you (looks, style, character etc) and then indirectly showing their interest.

 This can be through a slightly longer glance than normal at the man, positioning themselves so they are physically close to the object of their affections, or just simply turning up in the same location. I remember when I was 14 or so, this girl appeared at my football match completely randomly and I had no idea how she got there nor how she even knew about it. It was only many years later that the penny dropped. Finding an excuse to start a conversation about something out there is another one. I’m sure the females themselves are aware of other “tactics” that are used in addition.

One of the advantages of growing older is that these subtle or indirect signs become more obvious after a while. I would say that now I can tell if a girl likes me up to 80 percent of the time.

 The OP said that men like the chase. I would say yes and no to this. I think we enjoy trying for sure, even if we are turned down. I suppose the rare time that we engage someone and they seem to like us back makes it all worthwhile. But most of these are within social or work circles. Most men haven’t got the stones to chat up random girls in the street for instance. Getting slightly off topic, but I am not entirely sure that women like being hit on randomly that much. From what female friends have told me. Especially if the man is not their physical type. Despite the “romantic notions” some may have about this. What appears to be far more common is that women have a brief interaction with someone, decide that they’d like to get to know him better and try the aforementioned reasons or something else in order to start a conversation.

 So to conclude, I think women basically do start most interactions, just not in the same direct way as men do. Good luck to the OP anyway!

Well OP, since you've decided to take the initiative in the dating arena... (and well done on that btw)

You must now pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back in the game asap. Get yourself out and get sh!t faced drunk, hit a few strip clubs etc. And then pick a fight with someone outside a chipper/Chinese. That'll restore your self esteem in no time at all. It's the only right and proper way to react to rejection! 😆