Something nobody will admit is that "creepy" is really 90% based on the looks of a person, and 10% what they are doing. It's based mostly on relative status, a

Something nobody will admit is that "creepy" is really 90% based on the looks of a person, and 10% what they are doing. It's based mostly on relative status, and it mostly exists in the mind. People aren't comfortable with the idea of an unattractive person potentially having a romantic interest in them (regardless of whether they do or not). It's different between women and men. Men are a bit more physically dangerous to women, so a man liking a woman carries a bit more risk than a woman liking a man. Also, the state-of-nature potential downside cost of unwanted attention, should it go very badly, is higher to a woman than it is to a man.