Salty Rants

Catcalling

There's a difference between a "catcall" and a "compliment". 

1. Compliment: 

Stranger: I couldn't help but notice how pretty that shirt is! Yellow is a great summer color.

Me: *smiles*

1. Catcall:

Stranger: HEY NICE TITS BROWNIE! I JUST WANNA FUCKING MOTORBOAT THEM ALL THE WAY TO FUCKING FLORIDA!!!!!!!

Me: *embarrassed* *walks faster*

Stranger: IT'S A FUCKING COMPLIMENT, YOU SLUT.

2. Compliment:

Stranger: Your nails look sweet, especially the little pandas! I love animal nail designs, where did you get them done?

Me: Well...*long story*

2. Catcall:

Stranger: NICE ASS, I WANNA STICK MY SHLONG RIGHT IN BETWEEN DEM CHEEKS!!!!!!

Me: *pulls on jetpack and flies away*

Stranger: FUCKING FEMINAZI WHORE!!!! MAN-HATER!!!!!!

-:-

Catcalling shouldn't be taken as a compliment because IT ISN'T. 

CATCALLING ISN'T SUPPOSED TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF.

Catcalling is dehumanising. It basically equates your self-worth to the one of an object (objectification). It's not flattering, and catcalling can lead to a verbal assault, which in turn can even lead to physical/sexual assault. Whenever a man catcalls me, I always cross to the other side of the street, duck my head and increase my pace, or feign ignorance—I feel gross and sub-human, but, unfortunately walking away is the only defense mechanism women can have.

"Just call them out if you don't like it!" some may say. But how many times have women expressed their discomfort, only to get attacked for it? To get told that we 'have to learn how to take a compliment'? To, in extreme cases, get physically assaulted for it?

Society has taught us that women have to accept and shrug off catcalling as a form of "flattery". We've internalised sexism to the point that when a woman is leered/ogled/catcalled in public, bystanders don't say anything, whilst she is forced to just accept it as a 'compliment' with a smile on their face.  

Street harassment doesn't make me feel good about myself. It scares me, makes me paranoid, makes me worry about what I wear and what I don't wear, it causes a whole bunch of problems not only to me but to thousands of women. You may not have been catcalled in your life, but you'd be lying if you said that the fear of being harassed on the street isn't there. Girls are raised being told to 'watch what you wear', 'use the pepper-spray in emergencies', 'just ignore them', and have to live in constant fear because boys aren't taught that catcalling isn't the way to go. 

And for those of you who are going to say, "not all men are street harassers!!!!!" as a way to derail the conversation, then please, spare me. Not all men are street harassers, but all women have experienced some type of harassment in one way or another. Because we are conditioned to think of these things as 'flattery' you often don't realise that it's wrong until you inform yourself about it—so to my salty readers who see catcalling as complimenting. It's not. There, I wrote it in bold for you.

Catcalling = Control.

"Street harassment is an example of men asserting their authority over women. It's a socially accepted expression of masculinity that demands women be sexually subservient, which mirrors the dynamics of rape culture. When a woman challenges catcalling, they will often be responded to by being told they were 'asking for it', which reflects the 'victim-blaming' discourse that rape culture perpetuates too."  (refer to bibliography for source)

If you're a woman and still believe that catcalling = complimenting, then I don't know what to tell you except that I really pity you—you've internalised misogyny to the point where you won't even listen to reason, and there's really only so many things I can say and only so many arguments I can use to make you see the truth.

If you're a man and either a) catcall b) think that catcalling = complimenting, then kindly crawl back into the depths of hell from where you spawned from. You're the reason why women don't feel safe, and you're a disgusting maggot that deserves to get burned by a thousand suns.

(And if you're a woman that catcalls—albeit I've never in my life seen that happen—then that's equally as bad. Anyone who catcalls needs to fucking stop. It's not flattering now, and it never will be.) 

🍟🍟🍟

Is there something that you're itching to complain about, but have the good sense not to do so on a public forum? I can do it for you! Feel free to PM me with the topic you want me to rant about, and I won't think twice before adding it here. I'll be waiting!

Bibliography:

Rosie. "Ditch the Label | Anti-Bullying Charity." Ditch the Label. Ditch the Label, 08 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 July 2016.