CATCALL

[3kKristin]

CATCALL argument

ORIGINAL VIDEO


    Catcalling is seen by many women as offensive and rude. It makes women feel uncomfortable and bothered. Personally I think that catcalling is just straight up demeaning and publicly humiliating. During the argument in the first video, Steve seems to believe that catcalling isn't such a bad thing and that women should appreciate the compliments, however he does not know what it feels like to be a woman. some argue that is does not have to do with the fact that she is a woman but because of her appearance. Some say that her clothing is too tight and shows off the shape of her body. I honestly believe that her clothing is perfectly normal and has no sexual appeal to it at all. she is wearing a black shirt and black pants which do not make her look look like she is asking for attention. So why is it that some men still need to call out to women? 
    I have never experienced being catcalled but I've seen men catcall other girls. It's completely inappropriate. I understand that some girls wear clothing that is exposing and meant to attract the attention of others, but to me I just don't see why some people have to call out to them from the other side of the street just to get their attention. Catcalling is also very loud and obnoxious. Everyone in that area can see and hear who is catcalling and the person they are catcalling out to. It is really embarrassing. I'm sure men aren't the only ones to call out to women. I'm sure some women do the same thing to men or other women. Catcalling is wrong. no matter the race or sexuality or age, it is wrong and there is no reason to do it. A simple 'hello" or "hi" is good enough.

[10cjisoo]

In my opinion, catcalling is something that is extremely annoying and immature. While watching the news video, it made me angry how ignorant this man was about how woman feel. It was obvious he did not have good counterpoints to defend the fact, that men catcall other women even when they know it is not wanted. From the video of the woman walking in NYC, it is obvious she did not like the attention when she completely ignored everyone who called out at her. Despite this, they continued to call out at her, and got offended when she did not reciprocate. This is absolutely ridiculous. I do agree with the man that these men did not have class and that they ay not have been raised up in the most proper way. It seems as if they were not taught how to properly treat women and realize when they are feeling uncomfortable. However, when he said that women want to be complimented all the time, it angered me. It was as if his mindset went back to the age where women was looked at as weak and insignificant. What those catcalling men were doing was objectifying women. Some would argue that the men were simply complimenting the woman and that a simple "thank you" would have sufficed. However, doing this can be obviously dangerous. Responding to catcalling can give the men the wrong message, and will make him want to pursue the woman even more. This can lead to even more abuse and lead to cases like rape.

Overall, I think men need to be more educated about the fact that catcalling is not okay. It is something that should be considered an offense. It is completely wrong to be treating women like animals and objectify them in an embarrassing and unwanted matter like this. It is uncomfortable to witness and be a part of as a women, and will be something men will never understand. Men have absolutely no right to tell women how they should feel about this, when they have not first-handedly experienced this. Catcalling is wrong and should be stopped. Period.

[10pbeatrice]

I agree with the above reply. Catcalling is something should not be taken as a compliment. Rather than seeing from the point of view from the man and thinking "oh he took the time to compliment a woman, he deserves her uninterrupted attention", you should see it from the woman is getting "nice ass", of "hey babe" shouted at her from a side walk. It is completely unnecessary for a stranger to think they know what's best for you. And to think that they back off after you mention you have a boyfriend or that there's a large group which immediately shows that they respect another man or maybe even a large number of people who can actually do something rather than one person who's alone.
I have been called babe on countless occasions and it had only made me more afraid and uncomfortable. It was raining i was in a coat that covered everything above my knees and i was walking fast. This man had the audacity to say "sup babe" to as i was walking with a scowl on my face. He smiled and i was never more uncomfortable than i was in that moment. Considering that i am a minor and that he was a man in his mid-30's this not only proves that this is disgusting but as well as proves that anyone who approves on cat calling should really get educated about how it affects the person the "call" is directed as.

[6cdeniseclaire]

Oh My LORD.
I might be an insecure individual, but catcalling is NOT a compliment. Some girls thrive from it andI don't get it. Why?
It is the epitome of objectifying women. It is a base and rude way of offering a woman "compliments" for her attractiveness. I want to march up to someone who catcalls and say, firmly:

"Were you raised by unintelligent mammals? We Homo sapiens were gifted with a advanced vernacular and a string of syllables that create these things we call words. If you would like to offer a compliment, there are may ways of doing so. There is quite a variety, I think you might find your fit. There are ways to say it in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese. Hey... Maybe even Latin. Maybe Julius Cesar found some fine honeys back in his day.... But that is beside the point. GO and learn some words and come back later when you have. Then we can have a conversation."

[10calexis]

Both of these videos made me extremely uncomfortable. I think most men, including that man in the topmost video, definitely do not understand what women actually have to go through every day. The second video, the actual video that they were commenting on, does seem like a 'stretch', but it's not completely far from the truth.

Men who think women actually enjoy being treated like a piece of meat based on their physical appearance are deluded and absolutely horrible. Additionally, they get nowhere. They only make the woman feel uncomfortable and dirty and when do they ever succeed in 'getting' a woman just because of their catcalling? Sexual harassment is not a joke in any way, shape, or form, and men seem to think that commenting outright on a woman's body will get her to do anything with them. No. That woman may be very attractive, but she is not going to offer you the time of day, especially when you're catcalling her.

[3bsaya]

I completely agree with the woman speaking in this video... Thinking that cat-calling "boosts" our self-esteem is not true at all. If anything, it would make a lot of us feel that much more insecure. I was talking with one of my guy friends about this exact same topic, and he made a claim that "women go out asking for men to holler at them by the way they dress. If women don't want to be called at then they shouldn't dress a certain way. They shouldn't wear short skirts, or tight shirts." BUT AS SEEN IN THIS VIDEO...THAT IS UNTRUE! Yesterday morning I was on the train to dance rehearsal, I had insane bed-head, I was wearing sweatpants, a huge military jacket, and i had a bright red nose- which I am positive had some snot dripping out. (It was freezing outside). The entire time I sat there, the MTA employee was standing in his both staring at me. At first I ignored it because I could've been overreacting, but as I walked out of the train, he said "HEY! EXCUSE ME BUT MAMI I THINK YOU ARE SOOO BEAUTIFUL AND CUTE, LIKE-" I was like oohhhkay.

It's just so annoying to have someone constantly hollering at you. Especially when I LOOK underage. I'm sixteen years old, with my backpack I am obviously still in school. I am tiny and I have a baby-face, I am obviously waaay too young for you.

Of course there are times where I like to wear make-up and look cute. But that is for my benefit. I am not trying to look cute for anybody else. Me looking cute, is not an invitation for you to stare at my butt and call me sexy. It is degrading, disgusting, completely immature, and not okay at all.

[3lciara]

The man in this video just shows how ignorant some people are to the effects of catcalling. I don't understand how a group of 30- year- old men yelling "hey sexy nice ass" could be taken as a compliment. It just makes me, and almost every other girl, really uncomfortable and self- conscious. It's even worse when this happens while walking alone or at night because it genuinely scares me as I don't know if these men calling out to me will follow me. I don't even have the nerve to say anything back to these men as there are so many instances when something the girl said angered or provoked the men, causing them to rape and/ or kill the person they catcalled, just as the women said in the video above.
It also really irritates me when people say that if you don't want to be catcalled you should change the way you dress. Just as said above, it still happens despite what you're wearing. Coming home on the train all gross from basketball practice wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, men still say things. It's not a compliment. It appalls me how people would think otherwise.

[6amedina]

Steve Santagati doesn't seem to have a clue as to what he was trying to say in the video above. I don't think there is any way to justify catcalling. It just isn't right. Girls are street harassed from age 12, and that's incredibly terrifying to think about. Even at such a young age, girls see catcalling as something that is a norm and something they have to get used to; but that should not be the case. It's degrading and insulting. That should not be part of our culture because it treats women as objects and develops the idea that females feed off of this and want to be "complimented". Men like Steve Santagati have a way of displaying the situation as if females are in the wrong. Although it is understandable that a "hello" does not display an act of street harassment, it leads to things of that sort in most cases. It comes to the point where women are afraid to leave their houses due to their fear for their lives. As said in the video, a woman was killed because she chose to stand up for herself while being catcalled. That makes females even more discouraged to fight back ,in a sense. In those circumstances, women feel almost helpless and street harassment brings them to a lower self esteem then they already might have, which is detrimental to their development as human beings.

[10agreco]

Cat calling is honestly so rude. The man talking in this video honestly sounds like a complete idiot. He believes that women need to be complimented, and that there number one goal in life is to be complimented by guys who are obviously just looking for sex. This man believes that if women dont enjoyed being hollered at, than that is there fault. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with a guy telling a women she is beautiful or vice versa; however, the way in whcih these men were calliing out to that women was not in an honest or genuine way. They were not telling she looked beautiful, they were treating her like an object, and thats just horrible. One of the guys in the video felt offended when the women did not get down on her knees and praise him for being rude and hollering at her . The saddest part of this video is that Steve Santiago, an unintelligent man who obviously did not grow up around any women, including a mother or a sister, wrote a book telling men how to communicate with women. The readers of his book must still obviously be single because he is completley clueless and has obviously never even spoken to a woman. All kidding aside, i think that cat calling is a demeaning thing, and makes women feel completley insecure. It makes women feel worthless, as if they are just an object.

[6arianne]

In my opinion, catcalling is immensely rude. It makes women feel pestered and uncomfortable. The woman in the video is wearing a black shirt and jeans, nothing special at all. It’s what many women wear everyday. She’s not wearing anything that shows she wants attention or anything revealing. To men, catcalling may seem like a compliment on a woman’s appearance. However, catcalling can be taken as obnoxious as it’s only based on a woman’s outer appearance. I’ve seen this happen many times and it’s embarrassing to see. Some guy will see this woman on the sidewalk and walk closely by them and say something totally creepy. From my experience witnessing this, many of the women will try to walk faster to avoid them or move slightly in the other direction. It’s evident that catcalling makes women uncomfortable and sometimes feel insecure. I’m sure it makes men uncomfortable too when women do it to them. I think catcalling is obnoxious and should be stopped. After all, there are other ways to get someone’s attention.

[6WElahe]

Catcalling occurs all the time. To the cat-callers, these comments may seem like compliments, as the man in the video suggested. However, the truth is that these comments are not doing much to boost a woman’s self confidence in most cases. It is quite awkward to be catcalled by a random stranger, especially when they loudly comment on areas of your body that you are not comfortable discussing with the whole world. The mindset that most of these men have while catcalling is not in the right place. Rather than feel better about themselves, these calls can cause women to feel a lot more insecure about themselves, their bodies, and their clothing choices. And as if the catcalling weren’t bad enough, it is extremely awkward to attempt to ignore someone who is calling out to you when they persist and continue to call out, even after you have expressed your disinterest. In some cases, when a man is turned down, they then decide to violate or curse the woman, as if pretending they never had interest in the first place to protect their pride. It is true, many women do enjoy being told that they are beautiful. Some men approach the situation very nicely and simply compliment women that they see in a respectful way. However, it is the men who feel the need to yell inappropriate things to any girl who walks down the street who have gained a bad name for cat-callers.

[3smonica]

Some people say that this video is sexist and females take it to extent and women should be grateful for such compliments. But that's extremely obscured. Its just stupid no one would feel comfortable if a man follows you for 5whole minutes that's just creepy. And I want to argue that its not a compliment unless its from a friend not a guy across the street whistling at you ass hoping that he will get something out of it. This shows how women are portrayed as toys and property to some men , the men in this video need to see how sad it is of them to do this and what this does so a woman. She is fully clothe she should be able to walk peacefully without any verbal communication which is t desired.

[6mhalle]

Watching this video truly disgusts me yet does not surprise me at all. I have witnessed this happen countless times and never understood why men felt the need to yell things at women on the street; they never get a response from them! Most of the time, it just objectifies the women, making her feel vulnerable and uncomfortable. It is ridiculously unfair and sad that women must deal with this on a daily basis while men do not. It is also sad that personally, I do not know one girl who has never experienced this. Some even experience it when they are as young as twelve or thirteen. Having this experience at such a young age, for lack of a better term, creeps a girl out. It also puts the idea in a girl's head that the purpose of her physical appearance is to please men, a fact that is utterly untrue.

[10pisabelle]

I agree with the fact that catcalling objectifies women in ways that are publicly humiliating and poses a threat. Women should be able to walk out their house and not have to worry about whether their choice of clothing will attract demeaning comments. Most women are not looking for compliments, so why do strangers find it necessary to establish "their approval" on how a woman presents herself that day. The woman from the second video was followed for five minutes. What was first a "compliment" turned into something more. If the objective of these catcalls were to give simple compliments, why were the strangers following her around, and offering their numbers? A compliment is a polite expression of praise, it's nothing more than that. As for Steve, I find him ignorant because he believes that women should appreciate catcalling. I do believe that his views on catcalling would change if he had a daughter that experienced similar situations as the woman in the second video. He also seems to change his argument often in the interview because he knows that he is wrong in most cases, and in unwilling to accept that. The truth is that women should not be catcalled because we do not appreciate being put in awkward and degrading situations, as do many people.

[3cdelia]

Just a few weeks ago I was on the train on my way home around midnight. I was sitting alone reading a book when a middle aged man approached me. The only other people in the train car near me were a construction worker and another older guy. When this middle aged guy approached me I felt my guard go up immediately. He started to make small talk with me, saying hi and telling me I was “a beautiful girl”. Neither of the other people on the train reacted to these advances, even as I said, “Sorry, I’m not interested,” over and over. A few stops passed while I rejected his advances about 3 times, until he said “give me a smile baby” and leaned over to touch my leg. I got up and walked to the other end of the car, passing by the 2 other men who avoided my gaze. I stared at them in the hopes that these two men, old enough to have daughters my age, would realize what they were doing by sitting there ignoring this creepy guy. I have had multiple experiences dealing with catchers, and even with older men approaching me on the subway, and of course this infuriates me, but the thing that bothered me the most about the whole experience was the 2 men witnessing my discomfort and watching this man harassing me, saying nothing.
I use this story to explain the multi faceted problems with catcalling, beyond the issues with the perpetrator. The people who watch it and say nothing are just as bad. Additionally, I bring this up to explain the shame that this experience brought me. Catcalling is a huge problem that we all need to work to stop, especially by raising a generation of kids who will not only respect women but work to stop perpetrators of this harassment.
a great organization about this issue: www.ihollaback.org