Catcalling and the Woman's Experience

I like to wear short skirts. I also like to wear short shorts, as well as crop tops. I like wearing leggings and skinny jeans, and other form fitting clothing. I know many other women like to wear these items too. Wearing an outfit that I like and feel good about myself in is always a good thing, and I think that feeling is universal. The point is that I love wearing clothes that make me feel good about my body- as many women do. A woman feeling good about herself can sometimes come at a price, however, and that price is objectification and harassment. There is a distinct and clear difference between a compliment and harassment. A compliment is intended to make people feel good, safe, and secure in themselves. A compliment is supposed to be a confidence booster, and make the receiver feel even better than they did beforehand. Catcalling, which is harassment, is quite different. Be it a honk from a passing car, or a wolf whistle while walking down the sidewalk, or a “Nice legs” from an unseen mouth, these are catcalls and they all classify as unwanted attention. Whereas a compliment produces positive results, being catcalled results in feelings of embarrassment, insecurity, violation, and powerlessness to do anything about it.

            Not only is catcalling extremely obnoxious and moderately terrifying, it represents something much more disconcerting. Catcalling is not about a man wanting to compliment a woman’s appearance; it is about male privilege and a man’s willingness to exercise it in whatever way pleases him. In the past, I have felt personally responsible for the comments I have received from random men in public. I think to myself “If I had less skin showing, this would not have happened. This is my fault.” The fact that a man can make me feel violated and dirty without so much as touching me is unnerving.

             Some women choose to cover their bodies whether for religious purposes, self-consciousness (which catcalling only makes worse), or simply because they prefer it. A man who believes he has the right to comment on a woman’s physical appearance in such a way has a specific sense of entitlement and power about him. While a man does have free speech and is free to express his views, the harm done to a woman by catcalling outweighs the harm it causes a man to not engage in this behavior. Morally speaking, men should not engage in the behavior of harassing women. I have heard people say that being catcalled is just “part of being a woman”.   People with this point of view have obviously never experienced the fear and discomfort that comes from being disrespected by a random stranger in the street.

            What does catcalling say about our society? It says that male privilege is still alive and well. Men who catcall do it to express their power-they want to show they have power over women. Some men love the idea of making a woman feel afraid and powerless by commenting on their legs or breasts as they walk by.  Some men are inherently threatening and predatory, and they use this to their advantage. Some men also thrive on feeling superior to women and feeling like they are getting away with something they should not be by catcalling; as is usually evident from the look of fear on the woman’s face. Making women feel powerless to defend themselves against objectification solidifies the social stigma that they are meant to be controlled by men. The collective female experience in catcalling is that it is wholly unpleasant. It makes us feel less than human, it creates self-blaming among victims, and makes us fear for our safety when we are simply walking down the street.

           
             Throughout each time period we have studied thus far has contained some element of the male being the superior sex. In ancient Greece, women were believed to be “underdeveloped men” and thus lacking in qualities to make them equals. During the Middle Ages, some women went to exhaustive lengths to escape the perils of being a woman by disguising themselves as men. These perils included arranged marriage, rape, and forever being under the strict control of a father or husband. During the Victorian era, women had limited rights and were the property of their husbands, which gave the man rights to what the woman produced; sex, children, and domestic labor. The pattern of men needing to control women continues into the 21^st century, and catcalling is only one of many things that perpetuates it.