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Catcalling endures despite social change

Catcalling+%E2%80%93+defined+by+Merriam-Webster+Dictionary+as+%E2%80%9Ca+loud%2C+sexually+suggestive+call+or+comment+directed+at+someone+publicly+%28as+on+the+street%29%E2%80%9D+%E2%80%93+is+a+familiar+occurrence+for+many+students+and+faculty.+Students+and+faculty+voiced+their+views+on+the+causes+and+implications+of+catcalling%2C+and+a+Metropolitan+Police+Officer+gave+advice+on+how+to+react+to+and+report+instances.++
Zainab Shafqat Adil and Isabel Link
Catcalling – defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “a loud, sexually suggestive call or comment directed at someone publicly (as on the street)” – is a familiar occurrence for many students and faculty. Students and faculty voiced their views on the causes and implications of catcalling, and a Metropolitan Police Officer gave advice on how to react to and report instances.

If someone wants to get catcalled over 100 times in 10 hours while wearing a pair of jeans and a crew neck T-shirt, New York City is the place to go according to this viral video. With almost 50 million views, “10 hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman” follows a woman silently walking all over Manhattan – and receiving a litany of catcalls.

Yet, catcalling is not only prevalent in New York City. It occurs in London and affects members of the school community.

Catcalling – defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “a loud, sexually suggestive call or comment directed at someone publicly (as on the street)” – is a familiar occurrence for many students and faculty. 

According to a survey sent out to the High School between Nov. 23, 2020 and Dec. 8, 2020, approximately 57% of the 258 respondents said they had experienced catcalling in London, while 74% said they had witnessed it. Furthemore, according to The Guardian, 80% of women in the U.K. have experienced sexual harassment – which includes catcalling – in public spaces.

Elena Alexander

Experiences and reactions 

Didi Akintemi (’21) said experiencing catcalls is “pretty much an everyday occurrence.”

“It’s like, ‘I didn’t ask for that,’” she said. “I’m trying to go to the store and buy something.”

Akintemi said catcalling can be dehumanizing. 

“It’s a very kind of degrading thing to do, and it objectifies the person,” she said. “You feel bad and sometimes you just feel, like, kind of gross.”

After being catcalled, Eilís Kenney (’22) said she thinks about the incident for hours after. 

“I feel really disgusted, like at myself,” she said. “I just feel dirty, like something that’s kind of happened that I don’t want it to happen. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

When she is catcalled, Kenney said she does not take it as a compliment but rather feels “confused and shocked” and concerned for her safety.

Akintemi said catcalling can affect people differently. She said catcalling can make some people “shut down” while others may like it. 

If you want to talk to someone and you’re interested in them, go up to them and talk to them like a human being. Don’t shout obscenities at them from a distance.

— Didi Akintemi ('21)

Akintemi said catcalling to her, however, is not an appropriate way to get a person’s attention. 

“If you want to talk to someone and you’re interested in them, go up to them and talk to them like a human being,” she said. “Don’t, like, shout obscenities at them from a distance.”

Jayda Roth (’24) said good intentions do not justify a catcall. 

“Sometimes they may think, ‘Oh, she’ll be flattered,’ or, ‘Oh, she’ll, like, think it’s flirtatious,’” Roth said. “But really it’s just uncomfortable, and sometimes it can be scary.”

Because of catcalling, Roth said she has become more conscious of her safety in public, which includes knowing when she should cross the street. 

Similarly, English Teacher Hannah Notowitz said catcalling makes her feel uncomfortable, angry and frustrated. 

“It contributes to a feeling of vulnerability, it contributes to a feeling of self consciousness and to a feeling that you’re not entirely safe on the street,” she said.

It is a really damaging and toxic behavior to be indulging in. If we’re only respecting 50% of society, then we are doing everybody a disservice.

— English Teacher Hannah Notowitz

Although Chris Ghantous (’21) said catcalling is more common for women, Ghantous said he has been catcalled once on a beach in Dubai by a man who commented on his body. He said the catcaller had no concern for his reaction and instead laughed about it and moved on. 

Ghantous said that he was not particularly affected by it, and he said the impacts of catcalling are worse for women.

Grade 10 Dean Duncan Pringle said catcalling was very prevalent in London when he was growing up, especially at construction sites. Yet, he said people dismissed it at the time.

Now, Pringle said society is becoming more aware of the implications and impacts of catcalling, but more needs to be done. 

 “It doesn’t feel like it’s acceptable in society anymore and yet it still happens,” he said.

Overall, Notowitz said catcalling does not benefit anyone. 

“It is a really damaging and toxic behavior to be indulging in,” she said. “If we’re only respecting 50% of society, then we are doing everybody a disservice.”

It just goes to show just how messed up that is in society – the fact that I’m now just resigned to it, and it’s just like, ‘If it happens it happens, yeah it’s gonna happen. That should not be the mentality of it.

— Eilís Kenney (’22)

Causes

To Pringle, a common scene for catcalling in London is when a woman passes a big group of men. He said “a need for belonging” within a group motivates a man to call out. Ultimately, Pringle said this need for belonging boils down to “insecurity” and a need to “exercise authority in a toxic male environment.”

Similarly, Ghantous said since catcalling is usually done in groups, it is a product of “mob mentality.” He said being in a group motivates catcalling as there is no shame or repercussion felt when the responsibility is dispersed. 

It’s not only adults targeted by catcallers. Roth said adults might find it acceptable to catcall young girls because of an unbalanced power dynamic between them. She said they may think, “What are you gonna do if you’re small and a girl?”

Akintemi said one’s choice of clothing is not the sole motivation for catcallers. 

“It doesn’t even seem like there is always the factor of, like, the sex appeal or … ‘Oh, she’s wearing less clothing,’” she said. “It’s just constant of them just viewing women as lesser.”

In relation to gender, Notowitz said catcalling is “mostly men against women,” and Kenney said that catcallers are typically “middle-aged men.”

Akintemi said men engaging in catcalling toward women stems from a lack of respect.

“If there is a man who genuinely respects women, it’s not something that they would do,” she said. 

Notowitz said certain men still lack respect for women because much of the world remains controlled by men.

“We still are living in a world that is viewed through a male lens,” she said. “Until that is readdressed, until that is tipped back the other way, we’re going to continue to see this treatment of women as if they were – are – the natural subordinates.”

Meanwhile, Akintemi said this lack of respect towards women is a result of how women have been “reduced” to sexual objects in society. 

We still are living in a world that is viewed through a male lens. Until that is readdressed, until that is tipped back the other way, we’re going to continue to see this treatment of women as if they were – are – the natural subordinates

— English Teacher Hannah Notowitz

On the whole, Notowitz said society does not do enough to discourage catcalling. 

“Men have been empowered to feel like they have a right or that it’s somehow acceptable to express their sexual desires in public,” she said.

Similar to Notowitz, Akintemi said there is a submissive attitude around catcalling, thus perpetuating the issue.  

“There’s such a culture that we have with catcalling, we let them get away with it,” she said. “There are never any repercussions when no one tells them to stop or don’t do it.”

Ghantous said society has becoming desensitized to catcalling due to it happening at “such a horrific degree.” He said this sets the expectation for catcalling victims to face it and move on. 

Akintemi said there are consequences to dismissing catcalling for those directly affected. 

“Girls think it’s normal that – it just happens, and men think it’s acceptable to do,” she said. “That’s what happens when we don’t address it, and we’re just like, ‘Yeah, that’s normal.’”

Kenney said catcalling should not continue to be normalized. 

“It just goes to show just how messed up that is in society – the fact that I’m now just resigned to it, and it’s just like, ‘If it happens it happens, yeah it’s gonna happen,’” she said. “That should not be the mentality of it.”

Long-term impacts 

Ghantous said dismissing people’s experiences with catcalling is a form of gaslighting. As defined by Healthline, to gaslight someone is to control them by “forcing them to question their thoughts, beliefs and events occurring around them.” 

If women are just seen as an object all the time and all they get is just catcalls, catcalls, catcalls, then they can begin to imagine themselves with a lower value.

— Jayda Roth (’24)

Ghantous said telling catcalling victims that they aren’t reacting properly to catcalling is not right. 

“You’re not protecting somebody by saying, ‘Oh that wasn’t what they meant,’” he said. “You’re blinding them to the fact that this is reality.”

Ghantous said the gaslighting of catcalling victims only leaves room for “a lot of buildup of frustration and anger.” He said it is particularly harmful when sources of trust to the victim dismiss their experience.  

Akintemi said catcalls can have unique impacts on teenagers as it can make them view their body differently. She said the “oversexualization” that comes with catcalling can make teenagers insecure about the targeted parts of their body  that they had not been insecure about before. 

Similar to Akintemi, Roth said catcalling can negatively impact one’s confidence. 

“It can really, for some women, lower their idea of their self worth,” Roth said. “If they’re just seen as an object all the time and all they get is just catcalls, catcalls, catcalls, then they can begin to imagine themselves with a lower value.”

Solutions 

Notowitz said catcalling should be addressed by individual actions. 

“Friends can step in if a friend has decided to catcall,” she said. “It’s their job to sort of be an ally and say, ‘Don’t do that. That’s not cool. That’s not fine to shout at women on the street.’”

This solution, Notowitz said, can apply to a school environment as well. 

“If you have a friend or if you are someone who thinks that that is okay, … it’s time to be an ally and time to step up and try and stop your peers indulging in that behavior because it creates an incredibly uncomfortable and hostile environment if you are someone who’s a victim of that,” she said.

At the same time, Notowitz also said women should feel able to respond to catcalling in safe circumstances to contribute to the eradication of it.

“It’s not necessarily incumbent on the women to sort it out because they’re the victims of it, but I also think that women should feel empowered to … behave as self defenders,” she said. “To feel like they can shout back at the person.”

Likewise, Akintemi said she responds “aggressively” to catcalling, although responding in the moment is the “baby steps” to solving the issue.

Responding, however, can be risk-inducing at times, which Akintemi said she recognizes. 

“There is a place and a time,” she said. “It can put you in dangerous positions and you don’t know how that man could then react to it, so you have to obviously, like gauge it too.”

Akintemi said the issue is not addressed enough and it should start by being taught to young people.

“We don’t talk to boys enough and girls just about how to go about when you are like having that interaction, how to deal with that,” she said. 

Within households, Kenney said catcalling can be mainly solved through education and adjusting parenting. 

“I definitely think if you just raise your children right, teach them to, like, respect other people, it’s not going to happen,” she said.

Although Roth said there may not be a solution to end catcalling, she said teaching others about the dangers of catcalling and sharing personal experiences can help. 

Pringle said solving catcalling ultimately comes down to educating people, which he said is “slow work.”

In addition, Ghantous said the solution to catcalling must first come from ending the gaslighting of victims. He said that means carefully listening to the experiences of victims and turning back to say, “I hear you.” 

Catcalling doesn’t feel like it’s acceptable in society anymore and yet it still happens.

— Grade 10 Dean Duncan Pringle

Ghantous said this would lead to a greater societal consensus of the implications of catcalling, and thus people would be less likely to catcall and feel more empowered to stand up to friends or strangers who catcall. 

“That kind of basic human level of solving an issue is way more effective than anything, I believe, you could put in place legally,” he said.

Words from the Metropolitan Police

Police Constable Ruaridh Wood was an officer for the Abbey Road Ward, the neighborhood Metropolitan Police Ward that covers ASL, until March 1. He is now an officer for the Hyde Park Ward. 

As catcalling in itself is not a criminal offense, Wood said the Met Police does not record the number of catcalls that happen in a specific area. From speaking to people around the community, however, he said it occurs often in St. Johns Wood. 

Wood said he and the Abbey Road Ward are opposed to catcalling and preventing it is something they can work on. 

Wood said, however, that catcalling is not an issue the ward is particularly aware of at the moment because instances of catcalling do not get reported as much as they happen. This pertains to the U.K. in general, with The Guardian reporting that 96% of women in the U.K. who experience sexual harassment do not report it. 

Ultimately, Wood said catcalling not getting reported is an issue. 

I feel really disgusted, like at myself. I just feel dirty, like something that’s kind of happened that I don’t want it to happen. I don’t really want to talk about it.

— Eilís Kenney (’22)

“If we don’t see it, we don’t know it’s happening,” he said. “Equally, if it’s not reported to the police, we don’t know that it’s a persistent issue.”

Therefore, Wood said he strongly encourages those who experience catcalling – or anything indicative of harassment in general – to report it. He said he suggests it be reported as a crime because catcalling can cause harassment, alarm or distress, which would fall under The Public Offence Act. Wood said there are three options to reporting a catcall: calling the emergency police number 999 if there is a current, direct threat, calling the non-emergency police number 101, or submitting a report via the Met Police website met.police.uk after the fact. 

For people being followed by a catcaller, Wood said getting to a safe space with other people, whether that be by entering a shop or knocking on a private property, and calling 999 are his most “pressing points of advice.”

Wood said he advises people not to respond to catcallers. He said people catcall for attention and not granting that attention can remove the risk from the situation. Wood said this advice is in the interest of safety and intended to protect victims or witnesses from potential threats as he said catcalling can be indicative of malevolent characters or histories. 

“Nobody knows the risks that’s attached to these situations,” he said. “Nobody knows the history of the perpetrator, whether they might be a violent individual.”

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About the Contributor
Elena Alexander, Sports Editor: Print
Elena Alexander (’23) is Sports Editor: Print of The Standard. Having attended ASL since Grade 5, Alexander began journalism in Grade 10 and was the Features Editor: Online in Grade 11. Alexander appreciates journalism for community involvement and understanding and representing different perspectives. Alexander also participates in Model UN and the Student Council. Outside of the publication, Alexander is the varsity girls’ volleyball captain and participates in track and field.

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    Mary CarsonMar 12, 2021 at 6:54 am

    Great article. Thank you!

    Reply