The Catcalling Collection (Parts 1-3)

  Why engage in this behavior? “ Why engage in this behavior?” What a question! Why is it that men feel the need to engage in this sort of thing? William Castello, a professor at St. John’s University, said low self-esteem is to blame. “There is a competition to be boldest, strongest most macho, generally driven by rampant lack of self-esteem, disappointment and frustration with life in general,” Castello said. “It is a sign of a rough and rude upbringing, which lends itself to a competition of sorts among the groups ... kind of a ‘one-upmanship’ of who’s worse than the rest.” According to a study of street harassment in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Palestine cited in a 2017 NPR article, men who are more educated are more likely to street harass. Researchers of the study explain that "young men with secondary-level education were more likely to sexually harass women than their older, less-educated peers". They further explain that the main reason that men street har...

What's the problem, you ask?  Research carried out by silive.com in 2019 in Staten Island, New York, showed that women and young girls from as young as 13 have been catcalled at and one young woman said “… and when you deny them, they dtart calling you out and get angry” She further explained how uncomfortable she feels because the guys catcalling her are way older then her. Another group of young women were asked if they had ever been catcalled. One, Abigail, 16, of New Springville, quickly replied: “Yeah, at Port (Port Richmond High School),'' she said. “There are a lot of guys outside the school, who just look at you. It doesn’t matter if you’re with your parents; they’ll just stare at you or say ‘hey’ or whatever, and really focus on you.” The problem stretches all the way schools! Which only magnifies the measure of importance on the issue. Why is catcalling problematic?           People who would presume that catcalling i...

  What is street harassment and catcalling?  A little history lesson: The history of catcalling (or more specifically the 'wolf whistle) is open to more than one interpretation, but there are some explanations of where the practice began to have grip on the people in society and how the term itself came about.   According to Sparklle Rainne who wrote an article for www.regain.us , most people ascribe the popularity of catcalling to the work of Tex Avery, a man known for his groundbreaking cartoons. The leading origin of catcalling in media (and, as a result, in American culture) is a piece by Avery, in which a wolf clearly whistles and drools over a singing lady, apparently so overcome by the attraction. Don’t worry, I got you ;) Watch the clip of the Wolf wolf whistling below: According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, catcalling can be defined as “the act of shouting harassing and often sexually suggestive, threatening, or derisive comments at someone publ...