Posted on Jan 24, 2014

8 Reasons A Catcall Is Not A Compliment

No, actually, that wolf whistle isn't "just the teeniest bit flattering."

BuzzFeed Staff

1. It's alienating.

Jaine@Jainey_Follow
@everydaysexism I try not to let catcalling bother me,but today its left me crying in public. These men don't realise the impact they have.
03:13 PM - 13 Apr 13 Reply Retweet Favorite

When a smile or nod to a stranger is again and again interpreted as an invitation for a crude remark about the tightness of your jeans, it begins to seem that even this most basic gesture of humanity isn't extended to you.

2. It's not actually about the person being catcalled.

Sanjana Rob@SanjanaRob Follow
Ok so some guys whistled at me and because I didn't thank them...I get called a wh*re, B**ch and sl*t! Nice. â€¢_â€¢
01:01 PM - 2 Oct 12 Reply Retweet Favorite

See: any time a person is insulted within 30 seconds of being called beautiful, just because that person didn't respond to the initial "compliment" in a way that satisfied the catcaller.

3. It's about control.

Catcalls of NYC@CatcallsNYC Follow
"Hold your head up. Senorita, hold your head up.You're pretty, don't look down." #overheard #Bushwick #stoptellingwomentosmile @fazlalizadeh
02:33 PM - 19 Apr 13 Reply Retweet Favorite

Catcalls are directives — Turn around! Come talk to me! Let me see that smile!— which assume at their most basic level an ownership of the woman being catcalled. These aren't innocuous or playful requests; they are symptoms of entitlement, and messages that women don't deserve control over their own bodies.

4. It's embarrassing.

The Prototype@MelBaby Follow
A man just said some disgusting things to me. I felt so embarrassed, & can't even bring myself to tweet them. Street harassment must end.
10:04 AM - 20 Feb 12 Reply Retweet Favorite

Evette Dionne@EvetteDionne Follow
I was embarrassed when I shouldn't have been. I'm entitled to these hips & this behind. I'm not property. http://t.co/EMAVJcig5N
05:13 PM - 9 Apr 13 Reply Retweet Favorite

In a sample study of 223 reported incidents of street harassment, analyzed by HollaBack! and Worker Institute at Cornell University, 19% occurred with bystanders present. But while witnesses can aggravate a feeling of shame — nothing quite ruins a night like being whistled at while walking with your partner — they aren't necessary factors. The imposition of explicit comments can make the person receiving them feel shame for simply existing.

5. It's dehumanizing.

Erika W. Smith@erikawynn Follow
So my ass just got catcalled. Not me, just my ass. He spoke directly to my ass. #wtf
04:31 PM - 6 Oct 12 Reply Retweet Favorite

It is inevitable that men and women will find other men and women attractive, and often in the absence of any real interaction. What shifts a catcall from innocent and fleeting attraction to objectification in its purest form is the decision to act on it. A catcall reveals a disregard for the woman's humanity, the possibility of her discomfort or irritation or fear, and signals that a woman is nothing more than her body or the ways in which she chooses to dress it.

6. It's invasive.

Catcalls of NYC@CatcallsNYC Follow
"Can I get some of that?" I was hugging my roommate on the sidewalk. #catcall #bushwick
07:46 PM - 8 May 13 Reply Retweet Favorite

By catcalling, harassers insert themselves into the personal space of the harassed: during her commute, her daily jog, her walk to brunch. This puts unwilling women on the defensive on a daily basis, where ignoring the comments isn't seen as an absence of a reaction but instead a transgression, or justification for more verbal assaults.

7. It's scary.

Patricia Valoy@Besito86 Follow
You never know when a catcall can lead to a verbal assault that can in turn lead to physical and/or sexual attack.
09:39 AM - 27 Sep 12 Reply Retweet Favorite

Kerri Brennan@kerribrennaan Follow
Waaa some guys in a white van just wolfed whistled at me and now they are turning round and coming back! I'm literally running! :'(
08:40 AM - 10 Oct 12 Reply Retweet Favorite

In September 2013, a 21-year-old man pulled his car up to a 14-year-old girl in Florida and offered her $200 to have sex with him. When she refused, she was grabbed, choked, tossed aside, and then run over multiple times. Luckily, she survived.

This is not an isolated incident. Throughout the country women have been stabbed, shot, and sexually assaulted for ignoring catcalls with alarming regularity, as Soraya Chemaly at Huffington Post pointed out, and this fact colors every incident of street harassment.

8. It's disempowering.

Melissa A. Fabello@fyeahmfabello Follow
When the media makes light of street harassment, it reinforces the idea that it's acceptable, that we're "overreacting." #EndSHWeek
03:07 PM - 10 Apr 13 Reply Retweet Favorite

Tam@Omgitstamz Follow
RT @PermBoxZ: Street harassment is real. Women aren't overreacting or being dramatic. It is happening to us. Every. Single. Day.
03:13 PM - 13 Apr 13 Reply Retweet Favorite

There's still a good chunk of people who, unfortunately and surprisingly, don't see the distinction between a compliment and harassment. A catcall is disempowering enough in itself — for making the person targeted feel violated, uncomfortable, or threatened — but it is doubly so when complaints about the catcall are silenced.

According to research by HollaBack, a majority of women report feeling angry, annoyed, disgusted, nervous, and scared when catcalled. If these comments are intended as compliments, they're missing the mark.