Catcalling -- creepy or a compliment?

Discussion in 'Ethics, Morality, & Justice' started by Syzygys, May 15, 2008.

?

Do you like catcalling?(ladies only)

Poll closed May 30, 2008.
  1. Yes, it is a compliment

    11 vote(s)
    52.4%
  2. No, it is objectification

    5 vote(s)
    23.8%
  3. Other opinion (post it)

    5 vote(s)
    23.8%
  1. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,671
    So ladies, time to vote on catcalling, do you like it or not? Is it a compliment on your shape, dress,etc or is it an objectification of you?

    Here is the article:

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/05/14/lw.catcalls/index.html

    "Women take both sides

    As the weather warms each spring, women -- especially in cities with active sidewalk traffic -- once again face catcalls from men. It's a situation some find unnerving and an invasion of their space, while others ignore it or are even flattered by it.

    "I call it street abuse," said New York filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West, 49. "It's unwanted attention and invasion of space."

    "On the other hand, some women appreciate the attention in certain cases, like Jessica, a 31-year-old health-care educator in Los Angeles who declined to use her last name to protect her privacy.

    "Yeah, it's objectifying and all, but you know, if I walked down the street and didn't have men looking me up and down and catcalling, I'd think, 'Boy, I must really be getting old and dumpy,' " she said.
     
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  3. lucifers angel same shit, differant day!! Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,590
    i don't hate it, and i don't like it, i just blush, i go bright red,

    i just walk on by with my head down looking at my feet!
     
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  5. shorty_37 Go! Canada Go! Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,140
    I guess it is a compliment. But just like Lucy said, I just get embarrassed, look away
    and keep walking while blushing.
     
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  7. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,882
    A basic difference

    I think we have to look at a basic difference, albeit generalized.

    Traditionally, women have been viewed as, or expected to be, less promiscuous than men. So even though many men would consider them poorly if they were promiscuous, still the women endure the catcalling and crudity on a regular basis.

    Men, on the other hand, are generally praised for their promiscuity.

    I make this note because most of the men I know, if catcalled by a woman, would be proud, or even aroused.

    So let us then recall the number of heterosexual men who would claim to beat the hell out of any gay man that made the mistake of hitting on them.

    I'm of the opinion that if you simply cannot restrain yourself from complimenting a woman, if your life experience is incomplete or your day ruined without hitting on someone, you ought to do it in a respectful manner. Even then, it won't always be appreciated. Not everybody wants to be part of your sex life.

    So to turn to our topic poster: Syz, if some lecherous, lisping old guy looked you up and down and told you that you looked delicious ...? Well, maybe it would excite you, but not everyone would share your response.
     
  8. visceral_instinct Monkey see, monkey denigrate Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,913
    Why is it creepy?

    Whistling at is not raping.

    Women who find it creepy should grow some skin and stop whining about how all men are creepy bastards who want to sexually violate them.
     
  9. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,882
    (Insert title here)

    Now that is a hell of an answer. I confess I am awestruck at its simplification and depravity.
     
  10. visceral_instinct Monkey see, monkey denigrate Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,913
    Why are you awestruck?
     
  11. Bells Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,270
    Why is it creepy?

    Ah geez, I guess there's nothing creepy about a bunch of men screaming at you about your "tits", "cunt", "mouth around my pole", etc, about how you give them a "hard on" because of the way you look, walk, etc. No, not creepy at all.

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    I wonder how half of them would feel if their mother, wife, sister or daughter had to cop that on a daily basis from a bunch of strangers as they walked to and from work or school. I've seen some do it to 12 and 13 year old school girls.

    And sometimes, if you're unlucky enough, they come right up to you and walk along side you as they're screaming it out. They never touch though.

    Nah, not creepy.

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  12. francois Schwat? Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,515
    Bells, what you just described isn't a typical catcall. It's sexual assault. Way to misrepresent an argument.
     
  13. Bells Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,270
    Is it?

    This is what women face on a daily basis on their way to work or school if they are unlucky enough to have to walk past a construction site (for example). But hey, as VI said, it's not rape so we should just grow some skin.

    But yeah, what I described is much different to "hey nice tits/arse/legs/pussy/mouth made for my cock/and other nice 'compliments'".. Oh wait, not it's not. Yes there are some men who just whistle and then comment on how nice your boobs and arse are.. and really, it's a compliment when a complete leering stranger calls out that you've got nice bits..

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    If you're really lucky, they'll be in their cars and the car will slow down and the windows will come down and then they'll lean out of their window, driving at the same pace that you happen to be walking, screaming out about your bits and how you turn them on. You're left either walking faster or walking into the first store or doorway out of concern/fear that they might just stop the damn car and get out.

    And no Francois, what I described is not out of the norm. What I describe actually is the norm. Men don't simply whistle anymore. Apparently they think they can get their message across a lot better when they describe what they're feeling. It's meant to be a compliment to be told that your mouth is the perfect shape for a stranger's penis. Really. Tell me, would you consider it a compliment if you were told that? Yes? No?
     
  14. Carcano Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    6,865
    Agreed...and I'm a guy.
     
  15. EmmZ It's an animal thing Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,449
    It pisses me off, big time. I give them the finger and tell them to fuck themselves. Anyone with those over-masculine traits has got issues. I know men feel the same when they're alone in a room full of women. I think if men want to wolf-whistle at a woman they have to be ready for whatever consequences their actions bring about. Usually when you don't respond with a coy little smile and walk away they can't handle it. Then you flip from being this piece of meat to the Whore of Babylon in an instant. Fucking ridiculous, if they weren't so pathetic It'd be funny.
     
  16. shichimenshyo Caught in the machine Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,110
    If I think a girl is pretty I usually go up to her and tell her so in a friend;y manner...is that cat calling? i think thats just a compliment
     
  17. EmmZ It's an animal thing Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,449
    That's flattering. Being a cock and acting like an animal with a gang of your mates is the problem. It's just common sense. In the same sense, a gang of jeering women thinking it's funny to try to humiliate a man is just as pathetic. It's not done to show people how attractive they are, it's done to say "Hey look at us, we are a group of less than below average intelligence people who like to act like animals".
     
  18. redarmy11 Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,658
    's a compliment, innit. Any bird wot don't like it must be a fuckin' lesbian. *sniff*
     
  19. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,671
    Now what about if it is not a construction site (after all, just how gentlemen are the construction workers?) but just a whistle from the other side of street with a friendly wave and smile? let's throw in throwing a kiss too and I think any woman can be happy with that..
     
  20. Carcano Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    6,865
    Well said...the way 'some' men function like on/off switches.
     
  21. Carcano Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    6,865
    Why...they dont even know each other???
     
  22. EmmZ It's an animal thing Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,449
    If he was doing it as a joke to play on the stereotype of men being sexist idiots then sure, that's funny, he might get a date. If he actually thinks that's a turn on he needs to be vomited on.
     
  23. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    I would never treat a woman with any form of catcalling. That only shows disrespect and stupidity on my behalf if I were to do so.
     

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