It was just another weekend night out with my girlfriends: we planned to go out to clubs and dance while dressed up in our favorite outfits with our hair and makeup done. Not for the attention of men or any envious women, but to please ourselves and to have fun. Yet, in the midst of this euphoria of fun and spending quality time with each other, a number of men on the street leered at the four or five of us and yelled obscene remarks, calling us “white sluts” and telling their buddies that they should “take us home with them” as we walked down the street. My friend had the bravery to walk up to some of them and ask why they were yelling these things at us, when all we wanted to do was have a good time with each other. In spite of her heroic actions, standing up for the group of girls we were in, the instance ruined our night.
One in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted on college campuses, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Women today, especially women in college or even younger, exist in a rape culture, promoted by the media and societal sexism — the theory that women are and always have been inferior to men. Statistically, young girls are more than half as likely to be sexually exploited by men.
These instances of men catcalling me on the street happens every day: every time I drive in my car, go to the store or walk down the street I am subjected to stares, whistles or words, regardless of what I am wearing or doing. When I am with other women, this happens to them too: catcalling is something women are subjected to every day. Catcalling is a product of rape culture. Rarely do you hear of women shouting at other men walking on the street. When I hear someone call me out, I want to cower inside my own body, never to be seen again.
Almost all women have been at the hands of some kind of sexual assault, including catcalling. A woman does not deserve to be yelled at from across the street, regardless of the way she looks. Though some may think it’s flattering, I do not like being subjected to the state of just a nice looking body. It makes me as well every woman it happens to uncomfortable. Catcalling is a product of rape culture, and rape culture is a product of a patriarchal society. This world — this country especially — was built under men, by men and for men.
Catcalling does not promote equality or love: it promotes the belittlement of my gender. Girls have to grow up in a society where men believe it is okay to speak their mind, and to even possess sexual thoughts, of random women on the street whom they have never met. It is and has been a big problem in my life, and I look up to those women who preach out against it: men should not catcall, even if a girl is dressed up and is wearing revealing clothes. Women should be able to walk outside dressed and looking however they want to without hearing whistles, mutters or calls.
