Oh no, she was militantly feminist separately from her interactions with men, that was just a result of her extensive reading around the subject. Every discussion could be (and often was) turned around to the oppressive nature of the patriarchy regardless of how obscure the subject matter began. I don't necessarily have a problem with this either, everyone has a right to believe and express whatever they want provided it does no harm to others.

Her most aggressive interactions with men were generally to be found when out for a drink... primarily at places designed for social mixing and dating. I could argue that this is prior interaction but I don't believe that to be true - but I think on some fundamental level she enjoyed the battle. There was a sort of battle fever that began when she went out that could've been circumvented by going somewhere different or doing something else. Again, she's entitled to go where she likes - but generally humans go to places they enjoy.

And yes, she does deserve the benefit of the doubt -and I have no problem with her behaviour if it aligned with her goals. It didn't seem to and it made her miserable. She doesn't have to give any man the time of day and she's entitled to drink where she likes but the Psychology underpinning her behaviour was unusual and I'd argue counterproductive to her wellbeing. The line between feminism and misandry is quite fine.