Catcalling is, in a simple description, yelling unsolicited comments that are usually in a sexual nature to a person on the street. We most commonly see it with a man yelling what he thinks is a compliment to a random woman he passes. The problem is they aren’t compliments. They are rude, unnecessary, and disturbing.
On Halloween, Grace and I decided to sit in cougar mall (the main intersection on campus) and attempt to catcall boys as part of a sociology project. The project was for us to participate in a gender breaching norm, meaning that we would need to do something that the opposite sex would do, and see how society would react to it.
A – Initially when I thought of catcalling boys, I knew I’d be too nervous to go through with it, but after class, I mentioned to Grace and instantly she was on board. I considered the fact that doing it with another person might not be as bad. When we got to cougar mall I wasn’t any less nervous. Boys would walk by and Grace and my friend Emma would try to hype me up to yell something but I just felt so uncomfortable and ashamed. Something in me knew it wasn’t natural and left me super uneasy. I ended up complimenting a boy in a banana suit and he seemed to like it but it wasn’t in the flirty or dirty way that most boys catcall. I think to genuinely catcall someone you have to have a sense of entitled arrogance that I just didn’t have. Society has always allowed males to have this feeling that makes it easier for them to do something so blatantly disgusting.
G- I was immediately excited to work with Autumn on this project. I usually like social experiments such as breaching gender norms. I consider myself to be a laid back person who can put myself in a situation such as this and be able to do it pretty easily. I was totally wrong. I have only been catcalled once but honestly once is enough to just totally put you off and make you uncomfortable for the rest of the day. I knew how catcalling made mefeel, and I didn’t want to ruin someone else’s day for the sake of the project. Ultimately, Autumn and I were unable to shout out to most of the guys that walked past us. It ended up turning into just complimenting guys’ hair, shoes, etc. which I think is so much nicer for one, and a natural thing for girls to do. I had a friend, David, walk past us and I called him over and asked how to catcall, or how guys could do it so easily. He said, “Guys like that kind of attention. They want to know people are looking at them.” It made some sense, not only did guys want to give attention to girls, no matter how unwanted, they also wanted to bring attention to themselves. I was finally able to push myself out of that bubble of uncomfortable and truly catcall a guy. I shouted. “How it do baby?” to a guy walking past and he whipped around and stared right at me. I immediately felt so bad and apologized. He just smiled and laughed at kept walking. That was a common reaction to anybody around us who heard. Even though everyone laughed it off, I was still so embarrassed, like I was still the one being catcalled.
Girls are already so self-conscious and are usually not okay with the thought of people looking at them. Catcalling makes that feeling so much worse. Guys don’t understand that we don’t take the sexual comments they shout across the street as compliments. The way a guy catcalls a random girl and how random girls compliment each other is in every way different. When girls compliment each other, even if it’s randomly or without knowing the person, the comments are usually about how we love their sweater or makeup. We don’t make other girls feel sexualized or objectified—and that’s what catcalling does. Autumn and I still don’t know how guys are really able to shout out sexual comments to girls on the street, but this assignment really showed underlying gender roles that girls are faced with. Guys are socially allowed to be openly sexual and have an unapologetic sexual prowess. Not only are girls shamed for being openly sexual, it’s uncomfortable for us to flip the script.
Dear girls, don’t apologize for existing. We exist outside of others’ perspectives and aren’t here for anyone’s pleasure. We are our own people. Battling catcalls does not mean that you need to change what you wear or how you carry yourself. To battle catcalls, get angry. Turn around and cuss them out. Shout back at them. Throw them off their game. Don’t allow yourself to take it. You are not at fault for some guy catcalling you. It is their fault for thinking that was appropriate. It is their fault for making you uncomfortable.