When I was younger, I used to rely mostly on my verbal skills to reel women in. I'm not photogenic, but women like my face. Not instantly, but women often claimed they were attracted to my mischievous green eyes. I was obviously having fun and they wanted to be part of that.
When my eye got damaged in 2015 and I started to wear an eyepatch to shield it from direct light, I didn't like looking handicapped, but I found that instead of decreasing, my attractiveness actually increased. Women came up to me to flirt with me, something that hadn't happened previously. On one hand it was flattering, but I was also acutely aware that apparently it took disfigurement to make me attractive.
In 2021 I went with a lover to her family in Prague and she arranged for me to buy a Maine Coon kitten that I had to carry around CZ for six days before we went back to Amsterdam. After those six days, Klook was used to going everywhere with me, so instead of leaving him at home alone, I take him with me into town. He likes to observe the lower lifeforms.
The (female) attention I received before 2021 was welcome and not too intrusive, but walking around with a shoulder cat taught me what it's like to be approached constantly when you just want to be by yourself. As with a beautiful woman, people stop me in the street to talk with me, to take photos, to share about their cats, to touch Klook.
I had a lover who had long chestnut curls she was very proud of, but she was tempted to cut it off because people stopped her in the street and wanted to touch her hair. And, like with Klook, people would just touch her hair without asking permission.
It's mainly because of annoying people that I carry my cane everywhere. So I can keep the dildos at a distance.
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But, yes, I know what it feels like to be a 'photo opportunity' and the level of attention is probably close to what an attractive woman would have to deal with on a daily basis. I'm not surprised beautiful women pretend to be aloof. They love a normal conversation without people drooling over them.