Treating girls right
Girls have you ever heard “Hey girl, you’re sexy!”, or maybe “Hey we should hook up”? Being catcalled is no laughing matter, for guys they feel it’s a harmless way to compliment, get with, or at least get a girl's attention. However to most of the girls who get this type of attention they have the thought in the back of their minds that says they are going to get violated or raped.
Catcalling is a form of harassment toward girls and it needs to be taken more seriously otherwise girls who want to be appreciated more instead of called out may give up and be uncomfortable with men.
There are reasons why guys catcall women. One reason is because some guys feel it builds character like this young man who was asked why he catcalls. “We need to be rejected as men and get used to it. It builds character.” This goes to show that some men just feel that they need to get rejected so when they seriously go to ask a girl out one day they can handle it if they are rejected.
I think that this is the wrong way to “build character”, if a man want’s to build character he should compliment a girl on her shirt or say she look’s very pretty and not just call her sexy or ask her to go back to his house with him. If he get’s rejected, yes it may hurt but that is a part of life and eventually he will move on from it.
Another reason some guys catcall women is for power and to help explain by what that means is another young man who said, “A catcall or a car horn beep gives me a momentary feeling of power over them because I can see their discomfort.”
My own thoughts on this are that this is wrong, for one because he seems to enjoy the discomfort of women, which brings this back around to my statement that it makes women uncomfortable and they feel they may be violated or raped.
For two because, a man shouldn’t need to feel powerful over women just because he is not happy with the way he looks and because he is constantly rejected, it is wrong and should be considered harassment.
There are girls out there who have spoken up to support the argument that catcalling is wrong and degrading to women. One woman states "believe that catcalling not only continues the traditional gender roles (men rank over women) but also endangers women. Yes, it’s nice to be complemented in public or anywhere. But by compliments, people mean ‘Oh I just love your hair!’, ‘That shirt is adorable, where did you get it?...They don’t want to be pointed out and yelled at, they don’t want to hear things like ‘Hey sweetie, come over here and give us a smile. ‘*whistles* Hey cutie, where are you headed?...These are NOT things women want to hear. If they do, then they have been taught that these are the only compliments they will ever get and that it NOT okay.”
She feels the way that most girls do, that they want genuine compliment and not some guy trying to “build character” or have power over girls. This type of “complementing” can be harmful and degrading.
Which is what this final young lady is trying to say in her side of the argument, “Catcalling makes you feel like you’re just there to please a guy. The artist is correct in saying that it makes you feel like your body isn’t your own. It’s not a compliment if a woman’s feelings aren’t taken into account. Compliments are respectful.”
This proves that when catcalling a girl you are breaking her down to where you are only admiring her physical aspects of her body and not actually complimenting her as a whole like she deserves.
The argument in which if “catcalling” should be considered harassment because of its degrading nature to women is unfortunately not something most law enforcers take a second look at but should seriously be reconsidered. I think if enough men and women stand up and argue that catcalling is harassment and should be illegal then we can try to put a stop to it, women deserve a man, not someone who will make her feel like just a body.
