"Hey Baby, Got Fries to Go with That Shake?"

[Lady Macbeth]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/05/14/lw.catcalls/index.html

I live in a small city in an area without much foot traffic. The most I've ever gotten is winks from landscapers while I am jogging or the occasional guy honking his horn at me.

Some women may find this attention flattering, but it makes me uncomfortable and angry.  It doesn't frighten me, but then I am never in a position where I am alone with or even very near these guys. Usually if I bother to respond I'll just flick them off.  I have a well-exercised pair of middle fingers. :p

If it happened on a regular basis, however, I would be stressed out and aggravated all the time. I think men should know better then to approach women like that. If I had a son who behaved that way his ears would be boxed in a second. Not only by me, but by Saku-chan.

I don't buy that these men don't know they're harassing people. Even if they weren't raised to be gentlemen, there are plenty of examples in the world. Watch a damn Merchant Ivory movie or something!

This article just made me kind of angry. What do the ladies think? Are they flattered by this behavior?  How about you, men? Do you see it as harassment?

[Gaelin]

This is one area where being overweight and ugly can be an asset. :p Still, I've gotten a little negative attention and it is really annoying and frustrating.

[marka]

I totally hate it. No faster way for a guy to get branded as an ignorant asshole creep in my book. It's also scary if someone is cruising and slows down ...  Ugh. May they be condemned to a long life with a fake Fifi. :mad
 
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BTW, Gaelin, I think you're pretty.

[Wired1]

Just saw this...

My two pennies is this:  No intelligent, well-mannered, sincere person would use this tactic to attract or impress another human being.

Guys who DO act this way typically are young and stupid, or worse... OLD and stupid.  Either way, stupidity is the driving force here.

If a guy ever did this to Jess, I am sure she would flip them off.  If I were there... they better have a gun  A really big, loaded gun.

:evil

[Jeff B]

i'm with wired on this one...the whistle or cat call is all i'd really need to hear to know that a guy was too stupid or ignorant to want anything to do with.

seriously someone that thinks doing this will attract a worthwhile female deserves whatever he gets (though in my experience a lot of these guys get girls they don't deserve, so...different topic :p)

personally, being a guy, i could never do that.  i mean if i see an attractive female walking or jogging down the road, looking isn't a crime but there are lines you don't cross IMO.

[Papercut]

Eeuw, yuck and gross. There may be women who like being treated like this but then there are women who like abusive as4holes who beat them. In fact, catcalling is basically an extreme extension of the attitude that leads to wife/girlfriend beating. These are men who don't see women as people but as sexual objects, in the case of abusers as their object (remember how during an interview OJ Simpson put his hand over Nicole Brown Simpson's crotch and said "this is mine"?)

That's why it's so infuriating - these jerks are trying to diminish us by reducing us to things that exist to "get them off"... or if we don't then we have no value and might as well just roll into a grave and die.

Do I sound mad? Damn straight I'm mad - that kind of crap is on the same level as making watermelon eating n*99er jokes, only instead of demeaning black people it demeans women.

[indigo0086]

OH SH!T WATERMELON, WHERE?!

[marka]

:lol