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A Gentlemen’s Guide to Catcalling

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Mass Amherst chapter.

I was walking to the first Her Campus meeting of the semester, minding my own business with my headphones in and sunglasses on. Passing the Student Union, I almost didn’t realize the guy standing with his group of friends was talking to me. I took an earbud out and asked him what he said.

“I’m liking the skirt!” Was I embarrassed? Of course. Was I annoyed? Hell yes. But what was I feeling more than anything else? Pissed off.

His words stuck with me throughout the meeting, even throughout dinner. I wanted nothing more than to go back into my dorm room and change after that. But then I stopped myself—Why? Why was I the one feeling bad? A gray maxi skirt was nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn’t my skirt that was the problem, it was the catcall.

So I decided to make a cheat sheet for catcalling, to let you guys know just what we think.

Catcalling WON’T make you cooler:

It’s just like jumping off of a bridge. It’s just not a good idea all around.

Your words ARE NOT compliments:

If anything, they only make us want to hide.

It makes you look DESPERATE:

Which (let’s be honest) if you’re catcalling for attention, you probably are.

IT’S DEGRADING:

Really? You’re just going to yell at me about how I look instead of actually initiating a conversation? NEXT.

Why would you even want to in the first place?

Really, though. Why?!

It’s not your right. It’s not a “boy thing”. It’s a “creep thing”.

NO ONE LIKES A CATCALLER:

Seriously. No jokes here.

So, gentlemen. The next time you decide to catcall, I have one very important piece of advice for you…DON’T.

Can you relate, Collegiettes?

All images found on Google.

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Brittany O'Neil

U Mass Amherst

Brittany is a junior at UMass Amherst with a double major in Early Childhood Education and Psychology. In addition to being a content editor for the best Her Campus chapter, she also works for the STEM Ambassadors Program, and is a Peer Mentor. She's obsessed with Netflix, sarcasm, and gifs. Lots and lots of gifs.
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