Thank you for your comment.

I do not claim at all that there aren't men without a problematic patriarchal view of women. Clearly, many men do. And it will factor on to how men react and express themselves when rejected.

It's just that there are also men who don't, and even for those men, saying "I have a boyfriend," is often safer, and I think the explanation that encompasses the wider array of circumstances is more likely to be fundamental.