That doesn't work because if you can't find someone sexually attractive first as a minimum prerequisite you're appreciation for them will only be as a friend. So it's still a necessity whether or not it takes a back seat later on.
I think it is very natural to look at someone and see if they can be a sexual partner or not.
That is just the way we are built.
For the moment I am back to the African woman I was dating, she's very young in comparison (31 vs 54).
Of course, if all there is is sexual attraction or other motives (getting a permanent residence) then it won't last, you need to be able to talk to one another.
If this doesn't work out and I have to date women my age, it will be a lot harder to be physically attracted.
Of course, there are some women who are still attractive at 45-54, many of them are not.
To pretend it doesn't matter is simply wrong.
I have had a Spanish friend who I have known for many years, who is more in the same age range, and although she is very intelligent and we can talk about anything (we have different opinions on many subjects, but we do respect each others opinion), there is not much of a physical attraction.
So I find it hard to imagine becoming lovers.
This weekend I was invited to a female friend of my African girlfriend, and this woman said basically the same, that she often got proposals from men, but that she just didn't want to kiss them, she 'just didn't feel it'.
So I think men and women are not that different int hat respect, there has to be some physical attraction, doesn't mean they have to be a model, of course.
You're asking a lot. Nobody says to two 25 year old's "you should appreciate each on other on the emotional level with the physical side a minor factor." We just accept that physical attraction is normal for people around that age. But because we're older we're meant to have evolved beyond that, meet this higher bar, seek a companion without any need of it. I can't do it, sorry. And I wouldn't expect it from a woman either. (I'd be rather insulted if she admitted she liked me exclusively for my personality.)
Mere companionship seems more like something for when due to physical conditions, sexual intercourse is no longer possible.