Catcalling is a form of street harassment. It’s not supposed to be normal, but it happens so often, starting to girls at such a young age that it has become expected.
Men who catcall justify their actions by arguing that it’s just a compliment, they’re admiring you, they think you’re beautiful, that it’s harmless. The women who have experienced street harassment beg to differ.
I know what catcalling is, and I know how horrible it can be. But when I hear so many girls and women around me talking about the situation they were in, I wonder why I feel like I need this to happen to me in order to feel attractive?
Street harassment happens because we live in a world where society has dismissed men’s bad behaviour as part of their biology. It’s just “boys being boys.” Somehow, the blame turns on women, since we are told not to wear certain clothing if we don’t want attention from men.
Catcalling is a way for men to “prove” their masculinity. It creates a reality where men are placed in a position of authority, and women are supposed to be grateful for their attention.
I remember listening to my friends telling me how scary it is to be catcalled when we were as young as 13 years old. If they ignored the comments, then the catcaller would just get louder, start to call them names, or even start to follow them.
My friends would look at me and wait for me to share one of my own stories. But I had never experienced it myself, so I couldn’t relate. I would be told how lucky I was that it had never happened to me, which never really felt like a compliment.
I am pretty happy I have not had to experience catcalling. But my insecurities will give me reasons why it’s never happened. The parts of myself I was never extremely fond of became the reason why I never had a man tell me I’m pretty on the street.
Since catcalling has become so normalized, when it happens, it subconsciously justifies that you are good looking. It’s an ego booster, whether you want it or not.
It was only when I got to university I found girls who had also not been catcalled. When I could finally talk about it with girls who understood where I was coming from, a new question popped into my head.
None of the girls I was talking to are unattractive. So, why do men target certain women and not others?
Catcalling isn’t only about the woman’s appearance but also about their mannerisms, according to Jessica Wildfire in her article, The Social Science Behind Catcalling.
She suggests paying attention to body language, facial expressions, and eye contact. If a girl is walking down the street with earbuds in and looking ahead, men have a harder time getting the attention of those girls.
However, this is not always the case. Some men will make sure to get your attention in other ways. But for myself, this explanation made sense. When I’m walking around, I’m almost always running late, so I’m usually just trying to focus on getting to my destination.
Finding a possible reason as to why I’ve never been catcalled did help me become truly okay with it, and opened my eyes to the reasons why men feel the need to “compliment” women.
Graphic by Camille Houde.
