Catcalling. We have all been catcalled, seen it happening, or even done it. Some say that it is a bit of a grey area because some people view it as a compliment and some view it as harassment. One thing is for sure: No one should ever feel unsafe and sadly, just walking down the road, many people feel this way when they get catcalled.
My sister and I were catcalled for the first time when she was 12 and I was 15. We live in a small town, on a good side of town, and were walking down the street to get ice cream. A group of much older guys in a car slowed down beside us and said quite vulgar things to us. They most likely assumed we were older than we were and eventually stopped the car and we ran home. It’s happened since then, but not at that level and I am very much opposed to catcalling. For me, there is a very significant difference between catcalling and giving someone a compliment. Saying, “Oh you have such gorgeous eyes,” while looking at my eyes and not looking my body up and down would be a compliment and something that would make my day. Muttering or yelling things you would do to me or my body is catcalling and harassment and is honestly moderately scary to hear just walking down the road.
I took the liberty of talking to multiple people, men and women, about this topic and there were two very different stances that had some similarities. Some took them as compliments and some as a strict no. It was agreed upon by everyone that I talked to that vulgar comments about the person that was spoken to was not okay and some people felt endangered by these comments. However, there were a couple of people of the 27 I spoke to that said that any comment was fine with them as long as the person didn’t say it in an aggressive tone or follow them. In most cases, they seemed to agree that it has to do with context. If it’s something harmless and nice to hear, like being told you have lovely eyes while person actually maintains eye contact, it is a positive thing. If you’re looking up and down a person’s body and saying filthy things, very few people will think that that is okay.
It’s important in anything you do that you understand that other peoples' perspectives are not the same as your own. Just because you view yelling or even just saying things at people as a compliment may not actually mean they enjoy it. In the words of one of the men that I interviewed, “I do think that some people who do it don't understand that [it can be viewed as harassment]. Still, ignorance is never a good excuse.” Each person has their own preferences and no one should feel unsafe. Compliments are one thing, but vulgarity is another.
