Jackstraw
Footballguy
A couple of comments from another site:
The problem (for many women, at least) is not with the words themselves. The words themselves, as other commenters have pointed out, are First Amendment expression whether we like them or not. The problem is the context in which they are being spoken. I’ve never bristled at a “Looking good today, baby” or “Smile, honey!” comment when I’m at the post office or walking through a mall.
However, catcalls are incredibly threatening (or at least feel that way) while walking by myself or in a sketchy area or at nighttime. In those situations, my goal is to move as quickly and as unnoticed as I can through the environment. Being noticed brings with it the threat of assault, violence, or something worse. In those situations, therefore, a “Looking good, baby!” is not just a “Looking good, baby!” It’s implicitly saying, “You have been noticed. I am watching you. I am looking at your body.” The communication has a very predator-prey feeling to it regardless of how it is intended by the speaker.
I worked on a garbage truck for the County Parks Maintenance Department one summer when I was in college. All the guys in the shop were Archie Bunker types, and I worked with two drivers – one Irish, one Italian (the Italian guy assumed I was also; when I told him I’m Jewish, he thought about it and said “there’s nothing wrong with that”). The Irish driver would whistle and call women from the truck as I was riding shotgun while I’d squirm, since the last thing I wanted was to call to the attention of pretty women the fact that I was riding shotgun in a garbage truck.
During one whistle/catcall event towards the end of the summer, he turned to me as I was sinking down in my seat and said, “What’s the matter with you, don’t you like girls?”. It was just kind of taken for granted that this is what you do if you like girls. Clearly this man in his 60s with a strong brogue, who’d been a laborer all his life and looked it, couldn’t have hoped for any kind of positive reaction from the women, and I don’t think he meant to harass or threaten. It’s just what you do to express your appreciation for the female form.
He and the other guys had no idea how dumb they made themselves look doing this. Telling them how threatening they are is probably futile, since they don’t see themselves as threatening and would say that you should just lighten the F up. A better strategy might be to help them realize how completely ridiculous they look.
The problem (for many women, at least) is not with the words themselves. The words themselves, as other commenters have pointed out, are First Amendment expression whether we like them or not. The problem is the context in which they are being spoken. I’ve never bristled at a “Looking good today, baby” or “Smile, honey!” comment when I’m at the post office or walking through a mall.
However, catcalls are incredibly threatening (or at least feel that way) while walking by myself or in a sketchy area or at nighttime. In those situations, my goal is to move as quickly and as unnoticed as I can through the environment. Being noticed brings with it the threat of assault, violence, or something worse. In those situations, therefore, a “Looking good, baby!” is not just a “Looking good, baby!” It’s implicitly saying, “You have been noticed. I am watching you. I am looking at your body.” The communication has a very predator-prey feeling to it regardless of how it is intended by the speaker.
I worked on a garbage truck for the County Parks Maintenance Department one summer when I was in college. All the guys in the shop were Archie Bunker types, and I worked with two drivers – one Irish, one Italian (the Italian guy assumed I was also; when I told him I’m Jewish, he thought about it and said “there’s nothing wrong with that”). The Irish driver would whistle and call women from the truck as I was riding shotgun while I’d squirm, since the last thing I wanted was to call to the attention of pretty women the fact that I was riding shotgun in a garbage truck.
During one whistle/catcall event towards the end of the summer, he turned to me as I was sinking down in my seat and said, “What’s the matter with you, don’t you like girls?”. It was just kind of taken for granted that this is what you do if you like girls. Clearly this man in his 60s with a strong brogue, who’d been a laborer all his life and looked it, couldn’t have hoped for any kind of positive reaction from the women, and I don’t think he meant to harass or threaten. It’s just what you do to express your appreciation for the female form.
He and the other guys had no idea how dumb they made themselves look doing this. Telling them how threatening they are is probably futile, since they don’t see themselves as threatening and would say that you should just lighten the F up. A better strategy might be to help them realize how completely ridiculous they look.
or 
emo.
