If men didn't look at women, there would be a sudden paradigm shift in human relations. Increased sales of cosmetics goods and services, increased sales of attractive clothing, more extreme shoe styles... anything to get men to look again. And no, that is NOT being sexist. Because it works the other way, too. If women stopped looking at men, there would be more sales among male customers in terms of grooming and clothing, more gym memberships, an uptick in learning how to dance with a style slightly more graceful than the "Funky Chicken." (See, Bee... symmetry, or at least an attempt at it.)
The old credo among most men I know is: "Every woman is worth a look. Some are worth a second look, and it depends on whether they return the first look." Which actually is only a slight variant on your second comment, Bee.
Anyone who says "Men looking at women is a bad thing" needs to have their head violently pummeled with a wet rubber chicken. It is built into the human species to evaluate potential partners. You do that by LOOKING. It is evolutionary and is almost hard-coded into the human brain. Look at the mating habits of animals that use various methods of attracting mates. The peacocks with their colorful tail-feather display; lizards that puff up their throats; various bird species that perform elaborate mating dances to attempt to interest a mate; all of these and more are examples of the drive to GET a potential mate to take a look.
We can say that we are more civilized, but are we really? It still comes down to this: To perpetuate the species, we need to persuade a partner to "join in the fun." And evolution hasn't stopped. It just moves at a pace that prevents us from seeing it in action for humans. Perhaps one could point out that being a schmuck is a form of anti-evolutionary behavior, a way to be unfit when it comes to survival of the fittest. But there are females who can be brass-plated bad girl types whose behavior is also anti-evolutionary. Cuts both ways. And when it comes to drives, the desire to perpetuate the species, or at least to TRY to do that, is always in vogue.
With acknowledgement to Herman Hupfeld, songwriter, excerpts from a great old song:
"Moonlight and love songs never out of date
Hearts full of passion, jealousy and hate
Woman needs man and man must have his mate
That no one can deny
It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by."