Catcalling

Any mildly to wildly attractive female gets catcalled, right? Actually, I suppose I really don’t understand the requirements of a catcall. All I really know is that it happens to me...a lot.

Once I was walking down the street during undergrad and got yelled at out of a car window: “NICE TITS”. What do you do with that? What is that accomplishing? It’s like a drive-by ass slap I can’t do anything about. (Kinda like the time someone actually slapped my ass, then RAN INTO THE MEN'S BATHROOM TO HIDE.)

In fact, about 70% of catcalls I get are from a car: Be it beeping, whistling, or some other form of stupid male expression – YOU ARE IN A CAR. What if I stopped and responded? Are you gonna stop and park the car? And then there's the other 30% in the form of sidewalk passerby’s: "Ohh damn girl", or a whistle, or the "Hey Sexy". Or the eye-fuck. Ugh, the eye-fuck. Let’s not, okay? Obviously, nothing comes of either - in fact, I'd have to say both forms are a deterrent. I just can't understand the point.

Although, however much of an obnoxious deterrent I have found catcalls for the past decade, I question them now. As in: Wow, that was fucking annoying and pointless and I’m a feminist and you just objectified the shit out of me, but I must look halfway decent. What happens when the catcalls stop? Am I old? Ugly? Undesirable?

Perhaps a man’s catcall is a woman’s baby talk. Women inherently talk to babies a certain way as it helps with their development; maybe men catcall women to --- actually, there’s nowhere for this to go. I’m still lost in the world of beeps, damn girl’s, whistles and drive-by eye-fucks.

But at least I know I look cute in that dress…