You probably know the whistle I'm talking about: the wo-wooo kind of whistle. I turned around and looked, but it was dark (this was this evening, pretty late) and I couldn't see exactly which one of them did it. And because it was dark, and I was alone, I was a little nervous about giving them the pleasure of a retort (had it been daylight, I most certainly would have). So I just kept walking (and texted my boyfriend, who was infuriated).
I was wearing this outfit, only without tights because it's so nice (but with shorts underneath the dress) and wedges, and a black cardigan. Granted it is a pretty short dress, and I am aware of the fact that I was showing a fair amount of leg (but again, nothing really risque). This made me think: what has been instilled in so many men that they think they have the right to treat a woman, any woman, with such disrespect? Because that's what this is: disrespect. Being whistled at, catcalled, etc. is a form of disrespect to a woman, in my opinion. It is hardly a compliment; in fact, it feels like an insult. Because it is simply another form of objectification. And honestly, it really creeped me out.
So this has me wondering: why does society allow this? Why are men allowed to objectify women so easily and frequently? It honestly disgusts me. I least expected this to ever happen to me on my university campus, primarily because our student body is mostly females, with a small percentage of males, and an even smaller percentage of heterosexual males. I guess they just wait to lurk around at night.
What do you think? Is this kind of male behavior okay? How would you react?
Again, apologies from the diversion from regular scheduled programming, but I needed to talk about this. And I want your input!
immediately makes me reference the song "Ampersand" by Amanda Palmer.
ReplyDeletei consider catcalling completely disrespectful and disgusting. however, if all they did was give you a single whistle (whether of the woo woo variety or not) i would take it as a compliment and shoot back with a badass thank you. i still don't believe it's the best way to communicate to a girl that she's attractive, but not all guys can be classy.
that is a really adorable outfit though, lady ^_^
I think if it's only a whistle (from a charming one, preferably!) it's not that disturbing because men do much moredisgusting things to a woman to show that they think sh's pretty, and I am sure many peoplewould understand that. If there's no touch and not a disturbing continuity of the whistle, you can take it as a primitive compliment and move on :) but i understand your distress since it was night etc. I would have felt that way too. Still, You looked lovely! Dressis adorable.
ReplyDeletexxx
i'd take it as a compliment. even though it's a somewhat crude and disrespectful approach, it's still a confirmation that you look good. would you rather a complete stranger (at our uni it probably wasn't but still) say outright, "hey, you look really good tonight."? it's a way to do the same thing and be impersonal and somewhat anonymous about it. take it as a confirmation of your fashion choice for the day and that you are quite attractive no matter what you wear.
ReplyDelete:)