How are men expected to approach attraction and dating?

I wanted to ask women because I've already asked men and have received nothing but generic, mostly unhelpful and rather obvious answers. So I have to ask you, what should men be doing to attract women? I really do not understand. I'm 35 and have never been in a relationship and have never dated and I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. Women don't initiate anything, no conversations, maybe an indifferent glance at best. Am I supposed to be approaching random women in public and asking for their phone number? Is everything really just isolated to online dating apps and social media now? I don't have high standards or unrealistic expectations and I'm attracted to various women. When I'm out in public there will be multiple times when I see an average woman and think to myself " wow, she's beautiful." It makes me wonder then, are women just not as attracted to men as men are to women? Surely if I find so many women attractive, there should at least be a few who find me attractive. Yet I've gone 35 years without ever having the interest of a woman. Do I just sit back, give up and accept the fact that I'm probably just ugly? What is expected of us men? It's not just me in this position as reddit is full of posts from men with the same questions and frustrations. Hell, many of my male coworkers are in the same situation, having gone 10+ years since their last relationships. So I ask again, what are we as men supposed to be doing?