Catcalling is NOT harmless. And no we shouldn't have to ignore it. Nobody needs to be on their way to work and get told how some random gross dude is going to rock their world.
Women endure cat calling all over the world and I am pretty sure this has been going on since the beginning of time, in some form or another. However, some phrases are definitely easier than others to brush off. But when a middle aged man tells you, "Damn you as so fucking fine. I would knock the breaks out of you...you won't need to go back to school," you instantly feel a type of disgust that you have never felt before. And some women endure even worse - phrases that talk about rape and other horrific things.
If we allow this type of culture to thrive, then this sort of street harassment will never go away. It's disrespectful and uncalled for. "Guys will be guys" is the biggest excuse I have ever heard for allowing sexism to thrive in this day and age. We, as women have come so far to fight for our rights and we at least have a better experience in the United States than women in other countries around the world. Which is why catcalling is not something we should back down on.
I just wish some of these guys would put themselves in other people's shoes. Guys: what if it was your daughter being told extremely disgusting and vulgar things on the street by another man? You would probably be furious and want to fuck that guy up. There's literally been instances reported where women ignore men's catcalling and the men get pissed and actually follow the woman home. How is there no human decency?
