‘Catcalling’: Crime or Compliment?

Trigger warning: this article discusses topics of a sensitive nature

The non–profit organisation Stop Street Harassment revealed in a 2008 study that over 99 percent of women have been catcalled or street harassed at least once in their life. And yet around 14 years later in 2022, women still fall victim to public sexual harassment daily, to the extent that it seems a normal part of society. This sad statistic highlights how unsafe and inferior women are made to feel when simply walking down the street.

A Facebook video recently came across my feed depicting a young woman who was whistled at and bombarded with comments on her physical appearance by a group of older, male builders. There was clear disgust and anxiety in the woman’s face, and any viewer of the situation would have been able to infer that this intrusion of privacy was unwanted. Despite the blatant uncomfortable atmosphere, I was surprised to see the comment section filled with predominantly middle-aged white women who dismissed the seriousness of catcalling.  

‘In my day I would have loved this, always feels nice to be wanted’.  

As I scrolled, similar comments prevailed, calling the younger commenters ‘snowflakes’ or ‘overly sensitive’, and expressing their appreciation for the way catcalling made them feel. Mind blown and perplexed, I started to realize that although we are living in an ongoing, progressive climate, the common views of my age group that catcalling is vulgar and objectifies women is simply generational. 

To try and understand why there was such a drastic generational gap, I decided to delve deeper into the history of catcalling. The term was believed to be first invented in the 17^th century, functioning as an act of derision to a performer on stage where audiences would make a hissing or shrieking sound, similar to a feral cat. Even this interpretation of the term intended to inflict discomfort.  

Catcalling eventually became synonymous with the term ‘wolf-whistle’, with nautical roots stemming from captains seeking attention of their sailors through the sound. This developed into using the whistle ashore after seeing an attractive woman pass by to express their interest. The underlying connotation of this misogynistic action is sickening, the term itself ‘wolf-whistle’ suggesting that men are the primal beings and women function as prey being stalked and captured.  

My only suggestion as to why certain women are so accepting to the prospect of catcalling is that they view it as a compliment, as a way to feel wanted and attractive to others.  

‘Catcalling’ is not equitable to a compliment. 

The approach taken by men, and the intent behind the words and actions make this clear. Visualise yourself being badgered with comments on your physical appearance, no prior conversation or interest towards you as a person. ‘Catcalling’ normalises the misogynistic view that women are just objects that exist for men’s pleasure. When a man comments on a women’s physical attributes in this manner, he is viewing her as a sexual object and nothing more. Of course, this form of sexual harassment is not exclusive to women, and not always carried out by men, but unfortunately this is the stereotype in most cases. Not only is it disrespectful, but it is also plain rude. Yelling out at a stranger on the street in an obnoxious manner and using inappropriate terms like ‘baby’, how are they not aware that the attention is very offensive and unwanted? 

A majority of women, globally, say they first experienced street harassment before the age of 17. 

Catcalling shows no bounds to age, and I can recall countless stories when travelling home from school or college as a teenager under 18, where I was taunted with inappropriate comments. A memory that still evokes a nauseating feeling goes back to when I was in college at the age of 16, waiting at the bus stop on my way home. A car full of men in their late 20’s pulled up beside me and started asking me directions to street names they had made up with sexual words in them. Clearly old enough to know and understand that they were mocking me and trying to get me to say these sexual things back to them so they could get some weird satisfaction from it, I felt belittled and vulnerable. This fear has stayed with me throughout my life so far, especially when I am alone or with my female friends on the street.  

Stories such as this evidence the pedophilic nature of catcalling, a term that softens the seriousness of the verbal assaults which are clear forms of sexual harassment. Responding to this inappropriate behaviour can be traumatic and exhausting, so here are some ways to ensure your safety.  

• Assess your surroundings – Depending on whether you are alone or in a larger group, you could be vulnerable as a target for more than just comments. Every situation is different, so make sure you look around you and see if there is anywhere you can go that will make you feel more comfortable. 
• Make eye contact – Holly Kearl, founder of Stop Street Harassment suggests that eye contact ‘tends to work well because then they’re too shocked to retaliate’. It forces them to think about what they’ve said or done. 
• Be firm – Using negative statements like ‘this is not okay’, or ‘leave me alone’ can bring attention to the situation if anybody else is nearby. This may embarrass the harasser to stop bothering you, and show that although you are a woman, you are definitely not weak. 
• Walk away – Try to remove yourself from the situation so they do not have control over you anymore. If they continue to follow, ring someone you know, or pretend to, so somebody else is aware of their sexual harassment to promote your safety. 

After so much acceptance and progression in the last 14 years, it is abhorrently shameful that our society is still struggling to show respect for each other, and after seeing that Facebook post it is evident that the view of catcalling as wrong and shameful is apparently not shared by everyone in today’s society. I wonder if those women who were such advocates for sexual harassment would feel as strongly in support of catcalling if their own daughters were the females being treated as sexual objects in the video. 

Resources:

Stop Street Harassment (SSH) is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to documenting and ending gender-based street harassment worldwide. We conduct research, fund a national hotline, work on local, national and international campaigns and run an informational website – stopstreetharassment.org/

Our Streets Now is a national campaign demanding the right of women, girls and marginalised genders to be safe in public space and demands an end to public sexual harassment through cultural and legislative change. Join the movement, sign the petition – www.ourstreetsnow.org/

Public Sexual Harassment (PSH) comprises unwelcomed and unwanted attention, sexual advances and intimidating behaviour that occurs in public spaces, both in person and online. It is usually directed towards women and often oppressed groups within society however, it can be experienced by all.

• catcall
• feminism
• public sexual harassment