The people we hear talking about Snape's appearance, as in everything in the books, are Harry and Harry's cohorts (and Harry's dad's cohorts).
I don't think Snape much cares, he is focussed on the intellectual and anybody hooking up with him would be hooking up with the mind and not so much the body. But he does know he's scary looking, at least to little kids, and does his best to maintain that with the all black and the swooping. (I think this is why so many people have latched onto the gray nightshirt scene in GOF, because it is unusual and shows his vulnerability.)
I have a theory that this is largely because he's either the youngest or one of the youngest teachers at Hogwarts. And he doesn't have the instant authority of somebody with a long white beard. So if he scares the shit out of you, which he also enjoys because it's about power over you, he never has class discipline problems. And it's more than that, too. Snape likes being a badass, it's clear when he "duels" with Lockhart and all that. And his rep for knowing so much about the Dark Arts back when he was a student. He has embraced his scary and creepiness and makes it work for him, which is a positive attitude about it. He's actually wildly optimistic about everything in his own negative way.
Re:
The people we hear talking about Snape's appearance, as in everything in the books, are Harry and Harry's cohorts (and Harry's dad's cohorts).
I don't think Snape much cares, he is focussed on the intellectual and anybody hooking up with him would be hooking up with the mind and not so much the body. But he does know he's scary looking, at least to little kids, and does his best to maintain that with the all black and the swooping. (I think this is why so many people have latched onto the gray nightshirt scene in GOF, because it is unusual and shows his vulnerability.)
I have a theory that this is largely because he's either the youngest or one of the youngest teachers at Hogwarts. And he doesn't have the instant authority of somebody with a long white beard. So if he scares the shit out of you, which he also enjoys because it's about power over you, he never has class discipline problems. And it's more than that, too. Snape likes being a badass, it's clear when he "duels" with Lockhart and all that. And his rep for knowing so much about the Dark Arts back when he was a student. He has embraced his scary and creepiness and makes it work for him, which is a positive attitude about it. He's actually wildly optimistic about everything in his own negative way.
He's such a freak. I love him so.