While I certainly don't agree with the whole not being in a position of power thing, that was a bit off the cuff and irrelevant to the Convo at hand; he is correct in saying that men do appreciate it.
But women kind of lack perspective on this. We really are no different to you in the sense that it's not so much that we don't like being approached, but it depends on who is doing the approaching. For example I guarantee you
that you would be disgusted and put off if a poor Rick Ross or a Steve urkel approached you, but you would have the exact opposite impression if a fine man approached you. Men are the same way.
We are indeed put off when women do the approaching, but the caveat is it has to be a woman we don't like. Much like with women, dudes do appreciate appreciate when an attractive woman does the approaching. From a male lens, I can't help but infer that you and your female friends were not the ideal type for the man you were approaching.
And this gets a bit more complicated when women conflate whether a man will sleep with you with whether you are his ideal type. Both kinds of women are viable from the man's approach perspective, however ; only the ideal woman is viable from the female approach.
Now I'll take a brief break from the male mind and venture into the female mindset. Unlike my previous Statement, i admit this part is conjecture, but it seems to me like women find it uncomfortable to learn whether they are the approached-man's ideal type or whether they are just another woman he would sleep with . And I propose that this is why women don't approach . Not a belief that we men don't like being approached, but a fear that men do not like that individual woman approaching...