It’s a common scene: a sunny winter’s morning or a Sunday afternoon, the perfect time to go for a run. A woman strides down the pavement, gulping in the fresh air and enjoying her invigorating exercise in peace. And of course, her run is marred by the shouts of men launched at her from a moving car or high up scaffolding. Yells of ‘run, girl, run!’, ‘Nice legs!’ and ‘you can go faster than that!’ can all be heard ringing through the streets; but that’s just an integral part of jogging, isn’t it?
It’s a common joke that the catcalls of crude builders are just a part of society; it’d be better if it didn’t happen, but it’s just harmless fun isnt it? Any woman who has been cat-called will know that the consequences can be distressing. Not only is it alarming and unnerving to have someone shouting at you, it can lead to feelings of self-consciousness and issues with body image.
Of course, catcalling is not exclusive to running. Women far and wide walking down roads and through parks minding their own business will have had their physical appearance commented on in some way. I have even been yelled at by builders on scaffolding when walking home in my school uniform, needless to say I changed my route the next day.
What makes catcalling a runner – to my mind at least – all the more disturbing is that it makes you feel somehow embarrassed for exercising. I personally have stopped running in public after having been catcalled numerous times on what I was wearing or the speed I was running at. When you’re panting and sweaty, the time when you just want to race home and jump in the shower, is the last time you want someone commenting on your appearance. No one should be made to feel self-conscious for bettering themselves to the point that they change their actions.
Not only are creepy comments and abusive shouts demeaning, they’re harassment. If you’re being made to feel unsafe, anxious and fearful of the consequences if you retaliate, you’re being harassed. Catcalling isn’t a harmless joke, it’s nerve-wracking, fear-inducing and if some men continue to see it as nothing more than ‘a’ bit of fun’, there’s something deeply wrong with the way society views it.
When comments are hurled at you from across the road/ a moving vehicle/ an open window, how is one supposed to react? I doubt whether men think their shouts are going to make you hand over your phone number there and then – or even jump in their car and have sex with them – rather they’re signs of dominance and masculinity. You can have no response to a catcall other than to passively walk away, or at best flash the middle finger, but these actions merely reinforce the man’s intentions: you’re lack of apt response shows their dominance over the situation.
In my opinion, catcalling should be dealt with in the same way as any other form of sexual harassment. It is a way for men to gain dominance over a woman, making them feel threatened and intimidated, and if they truly believe that their comments are compliments that are going to brighten your day, then the issue is with society as a whole. Catcalling is a very real form of harassment and it needs to stop.