I think it may be a little more complex than this. I'm a man that was quite good looking in my youth. I got fat and ugly in middle age, and became invisible to women. Now, at 60, I'm in the best physical shape of my life, have largely recovered my looks, I dress nicely, and am blown away about how differently I am treated by women now, especially women over 40. I regularly get compliments about my appearance, and due to the halo effect I seem to collect compliments on nearly everything I do. Having been invisible to women for more than a decade, it feels a little strange to be showered with attention.

That said, not every woman wants the same thing from me, but they do all seem to want my attention, including married women, oddly enough. They want to feel pretty, feel desired, even if they aren't going to act on those feelings. I frequently get women showing clear signs of interest (intentionally putting themselves in my orbit, mirroring my behavior, initiating physical touch, etc., etc.) in an effort to draw a response from me, even women who are not in a position to follow through on their actions. These are not women just being kind or benignly friendly. Here is one recent example. I was at a friend's birthday party, and was approached by a woman I had met in dance class. She was moderately flirty during the the course of our conversation, and asked if I were seeing anyone, as she had noted seeing me regularly with one of my female friends. Our conversation ended with her stating that she was looking forward to seeing me in class. At the next class, she wore a sexy black cocktail dress, which was a bit out of character for her. For me, she was showing clear and unmistakable signs of interest. However, when talking, she mentions her husband in passing, which made me wonder what the hell was going on. I later learned that her husband is in the late stages of pancreatic cancer. My takeaway from this experience is that she was trying to elicit my interest to bask in the glow of my male attention, and that she probably isn't looking to step out on him (which is something that I wouldn't engage with).

In the last 6 months, I've had many other similar experiences, where women are definitely seeking my attention in circumstances where they have no intention of following through. It feels good to be desired, whether you are a man or a woman, and if a woman is constantly drawing romantic interest "accidentally", it's worth it for her to consider what energy she is putting out.

Not just suitors, I'm afraid. The vast majority of the women you will meet in your life have been the victim of some form of sexual harassment, if not outright assault or rape.

So, yeah, it's disheartening but I totally agree with your perspective on this.

TIL the word 'paucity'

I'm just happy that around me, everyone just holds doors for everyone else, regardless of gender. Guys hold open doors for guys. Girls hold open doors for guys. It's not weird.

Sad thing is that having a spouse doesn't at all stop a hell of a lot of people. To be clear, I'm not saying this is limited to men...all genders do this. I've personally never understood why. If you don't want to be with your significant other, break up with them. It's a zillion times worse to betray their trust and intimacy and then break up anyway when they find out.

I feel you. Ill do something nice, like open a door and smile, then immediately turn and ignore them.

That sounds like equality of treatment and we all know that isn't fair to some.

This is the way.

Beautiful lady gives me a big smile and a kind hello and my first thoughts are: “Don’t get your hopes up, mate. No way she’s single and if she is then no way she’s into someone like you. Be kind, but keep those expectations in check.”

Hasn’t failed me so far.

Me irl.

I think is normal.

Mood

The "alpha-male" era manosphere enjoyers don't care. This meme is basically ammunition to say "see, we need to end universal suffrage" to their communities

Relevant

OP is getting a lot of downvotes. I assume, from straight guys who are offended at this notion. As a straight guy myself, I understand their frustration. But straight up (ha!) - if you are a straight guy who is pissed off by this message, you are fucking up.

Why? Because it's the truth. Go outside, go touch some grass, and observe how women interact with each other (or with obviously gender non-conforming people). They hug as soon as they meet. They give each other compliments. They ask for contact info and proactively make plans to spend time together. In the context of this post, this is what is meant by "treating them like a human". It isn't just basic respect. It is giving them a feeling of warmth, support, and acceptance.

So if you're a guy, and you feel like the world is cold, unsupportive, and unwelcoming - great! Here is some validation of that feeling! You are right! Enjoy the ego boost!

But also - now you know this information. And this is good, because even though it feels bad to know that half the planet doesnt trust you by default while they trust the other half implicitly, it also points you in the right direction for solving your problem.

Here's the thing. Women do, in fact, like to fuck. Even with men?? Yes! But what they don't like is dealing with the emotional turmoil of guys who want to fuck them that they don't want to fuck back. This could come in two forms:

1. The guy who asks them out, clearly a bundle of nerves that could explode into rage or tears at any moment. A lot has been said about how women have legitimate fears about men becoming violent or vindictive when they are turned down, but I don't think this is worth focusing on, because we're all very nice people here who wouldn't do anything to hurt someone else even if we feel bad about getting rejected. However, I think it is also important to keep in mind that most women are nice and they feel bad about making someone feel bad by rejecting them. And so if you ask a woman out and will clearly feel bad if she rejects you, then when she rejects you she will also feel bad, which is an emotional load on her, and she doesn't like that.

2. The guy who never asks them out, but who is clearly into them. The guy who always shows up, sticks by her side at every moment, laughs too hard at all of her jokes. This guy is annoying. Maybe if he just asked her out when they first met, she'd be into him, but he just keeps hanging around, making her constantly feel his now-unwanted attraction. But she can't tell him to go away, or that she isn't interested in him, because then she would feel like a presumptuous bitch. So she feels stuck, always trying to shake this guy off or avoid him whenever he shows up.

So the solution is simple. Don't be those guys. Literally all you need to do is not pin your self worth to whether or not any particular girl likes you. If your see a girl you are interested in, then go say hi and have a normal fucking conversation. Then, at a point in time when it wouldn't be awkward as fuck, just say "hey, btw, I think you're gorgous/adorable/super interesting/a total baddie/the girl with the best hair here. Wanna go out sometime?" If she says yes, great! Maybe she even wants to make out right now! If she says no, also great, you have a new friend and you can release whatever nerves you had about whether or not an attractive stranger likes you.

If they think there's even a small chance, they will make the move, because they know if they don't, even if that woman likes them, she will never ever make the first move.

Or in my case, I find out after the fact that she wanted me to make a move, and I was continuously dismissing her hints because I didn’t want to be creepy and/or ruin a good friendship if I was misreading the situation. My best friend of like 4 years ended up pissed when I started dating someone new, because she had been hoping I would ask her out. Like bitch, why didn’t you say that when I was single?

I'll be honest, just disregard all these kind of posts and just be sincere and unregarded about the world at large. Neither feminist nor right wing dating advice will get you anywhere, you'll just go advancing their agenda.

Just move forward in live, whatever that means to you; act like the world is going to acomodate you and it'll most likely will (tho, this assumes you have secured a source of income, capitalist society and such).