Let me take you back a few weeks ago. I had picked up a shift doing crowd control on Main Street during the fireworks. It was a fairly easy, laid-back shift. All I had to do was make sure that people stayed inside the taped off area and did not walk down the pathway that was closed. As a bonus, I got to watch Happily Ever After without people in my personal space, and I was stationed right under Tinker Bell’s flight path. At the end of the show, I had to direct the crowd that had gathered to the best possible exit from the hub. Again, a lot easier than it sounds, but that’s when it happened: a guest made a comment.

Now I’m used to guests making comments. They are human beings and have their own opinions, and as a cast member, I can generally do something with those comments. Sometimes the comments are about how I made or did not make their day. I’m used to both of those. However, what I wasn’t used to was the comment this particular guest made. The short of it is this: he catcalled me. The sad thing is that catcalling is a pretty common thing to happen to cast members.

This incident got me thinking. I wondered what could possibly go through a man’s head when he catcalls a woman. Does he think that by being obnoxious he won’t have to go home alone at the end of the night? Does he think that by calling a woman “hot” that he’s paying her the highest possible compliment? Or even worse, does he think that women are just here as sexual objects?

Let’s look at the first question. When a man catcalls my coworkers at Space Mountain, they don’t fall all over him, asking where he’s staying. No, instead, it’s quite the opposite. We want to get that guest out of the area we’re in as quickly as possible. When it’s happened to me, I always feel super uncomfortable; like I want to run away and hide. The only reason I don’t is that I know that if the guest is in the rocket, I can just send them on their way, and if not, there’s another cast member nearby to help me, should I need it.

Now for the second question. Is “hot” the highest possible compliment a woman can receive? Personally, I’m going to go with no. On the night in question, I was wearing my costume, which is not flattering in the slightest. I wasn’t there to be nice, or even look nice. I was there to make sure everyone was being safe. If you wanted to compliment me, you could tell me what a great job I was doing. You could compliment me on my patience. You could compliment me on the confidence it took to stand in the middle of thousands of people and spiel. Telling me I’m “hot” really does nothing.

Of course, none of this is going to stop me from enjoying the rest of my time working in Disney World. I refuse to be intimidated by men who think that because I’m being super nice to them that I’m definitely into them, and if that makes me some sort of villain in their personal narrative, I don’t care.