The Most Sleazy Ways My Friends and I Were Catcalled in 2015
Being a woman who decides to sometimes leave her house means you will at some point encounter street harassment. This has been affectionately dubbed “cat-calling.” Which seems to me like an appalling misnomer since it does not mean a person is softly purring and baby-talking to their cat to convince it to come inside. In fact, there is nothing cute or fluffy about being verbally harassed while you’re just trying to go to CVS to pick up floss. I’m not sure who decided to jazz up street harassment by dressing it up in the fancy duds of cuddly language but it’s honestly bullshit.
There is no sure fire way to prevent these attacks or react when someone yells something disgusting at you. My knee-jerk reaction is to shoot the loser a dirty look, which never ends well. Many women keep their eyes down and keep walking. My best friend has taken to make car alarm noises until the dude is just freaked out leaves her alone— It’s probably the most effective tactic i’ve seen.
I have some pretty amazing girlfriends who have traveled all over the world and I asked them each to share an experience they had with catcalling. They were more than willing to share and they all had a lot of stories to tell because they are awesome ladies which unfortunately means creepy guys feel the urge to sexualize and objectify the hell out of them.
So here are The Most Sleazy Ways My Friends and I Were Catcalled in 2015
13. The Perverts version of the honk your horn game
“I often get very creepy men pull up next to me in trucks at red lights and roll their windows down and make kissing gestures at me and try to get my attention. So I guess that’s a form of catcalling now that I think of it. But it’s really disgusting and makes me so uncomfortable and it makes me feel hella vulnerable and helpless because i’m stuck at a traffic light so I can’t do anything but ignore them”
12. Walking in the city does not mean she’s entered a pageant
“I’ve never really been catcalled too badly I’ve been called cringeworthy names like sweetheart and Miss.America and stuff Like that on the streets of NYC and such some while I’m with MY PARENTS. But yeah my best friend and I have had maaaany old dudes on the LIRR. I even got one who tried to sit next to me while I was on my way back by myself last year and he was trying to tell me about his nephews like I would think that’s cute? He was 45 and wore way too much hair gel.”
11. Day runs > “nice buns”
“I was going for a run on campus (wearing shorts, because heat stroke isn’t cool) and a car filled with guys pulled over and started yelling at me about my ass. I turned around to glare and noticed everyone in the car, including the driver, were drinking beers. It was like, noon at the latest. I felt like I should be taking notes on how many laws they were breaking, although sexually harassing me while I was just workin’ on my fitness would have been item #1.”
10. Double Whammy
“I was making my way down a crowded block back to my internship after running an errand. I had a bunch of alcohol in my hands for an office party and wasn’t looking where I was going. Some guy I hadn’t even noticed yelled, “NICE LEG.” I turned around and shot him my “I will cut out your tongue if you ever objectify me again” look and to that he responded, “I SAID NICE LEG WHY DON’T YOU SMILE?!” I was repulsed and just started walking more quickly only to brush past a doorman who whispered “mmm mmm mmm” in my ear. Because clearly he knows every woman loves being treated like a can of Campbell’s soup. I got back to the office feeling vulnerable and dejected from that aggressive catcall one-two punch.”
9. Just when you think Subways can’t get any more gross
“Oh one time I was with my friends in the city we were waiting for a subway and this old guy came up to us and was like “I like your dresses you all look beautiful” which is pretty harmless on its own like it was a compliment so we were like “thanks!” but then he wouldn’t leave us alone and it was obvious that he was super drunk. he kept trying to talk to us but I wasn’t engaging/replying (they kinda were for whatever reason) and I think he was pretty mad about that because every time I looked over he was staring daggers right at me. he looked pretty angry. it was slightly terrifying. and at one point haha he turns to my friend molly and is like “do you know who sissy spacek is?” and she’s like “no?” and he’s like “well you look just like her” and made some comment about how young we are. it was sooo weird like he wouldn’t leave us alone it went on for like 5 minutes. he followed us onto the subway so we got off and got into another car.”
8. Smart ladies know when to peace the fuck out
“One time i was sitting at Mineola late at night after a horrible day by the big clock and two drunk men came up and sat on either side of me and wouldn’t leave me alone so i had to actually walk over to the Irish bar and sit outside of it. Luckily one of the owners of the bar said he used to be a cop and looked after me until the blue beetle came.”
7. The old circle like a shark and make everyone real uncomfortable
“We were leaving a comedy show with a group of, like, seven or eight people, mostly girls but three guys, I think, waiting for the F train at like 11:30 pm. And this guy who was obviously either high or crazy came up to us and sort of walked around the circle complementing the girls. Like, he told one of my friends that she had beautiful hair like goldilocks, and that I was the prettiest girl in the group, and just tons of other weird & creepy & harrass-y shit. Eventually, one of the guys engaged him in conversation so that he’d leave the girls the fuck alone, which was very cool of him.”
6. “Hey Sexy” is the new “Hey Kid, I’ve got candy”
“When I was walking back to my dorm once night this creepy dude was in his car outside the stud and he started trying to lure me to his car saying “hey sexy come over here, you’re a real sexy thing” and when I wouldn’t come he started following me through the parking lot.”
5. Commuting to do free work for someone is crappy enough
“I had a construction worker in NY hollering at me as I walked to my internship and he stuck his leg out to try and stop me from walking by so I sidestepped him but every Thursday he would holler at me so I had to change the route. I walked to avoid him and his creeping smile and comments. I had another guy whisper in my ear “I’d lick your pussy” as he passed by me on a crosswalk in NY.”
4. Street harassment knows no bounds
“I was in Paris and was followed down the street for 10 minutes by some guy. I sat down on a bench and was approached by him yelling at me in French. Not too long after 2 other groups of 2-3 men all did the same thing and even got about a foot or so away from my face while making not very nice gestures at me. Had only been in France for about half an hour when all of this happened. Was really scary not knowing exactly what they were yelling at me, but I’m kinda glad I didn’t really know.”
3. Actual animal behavior
” I noticed a presumably homeless man stumbling in the opposite direction while I was walking alone in Penn Station one night. His gaze was fixed on my crotch and as he got closer he lunged in front of me, making a grabbing motion with his arms towards my hips. I darted behind a cart of trash that was parked in the middle of the aisle and he collapsed into himself leaning up against it. My take away from it was like weird stares and gross words are one thing that I’ve become used to experiencing but that was one time that I genuinely felt physically unsafe just like for having a nice ass”
2. It’s all fun and games until someone decides he can put his face on your face
“I have plenty of “normal” sexual harassment stories (which you know, sucks). But when I was in Italy the dudes were super blatantly gross. I was at a club with some friends and a guy asked me if I wanted a shot, and, given that I’m a broke college student, I accepted. I went with him to to bar and after taking the shot he immediately put his mouth all over my very unsuspecting and unwelcoming face. When I stopped him and asked what the heck he was doing he very innocently said, “well I already bought you a shot!” I got out of there asap, and a few minutes later he had moved onto one of my friends. We spent the whole night warning the girls he was talking to as he moved from one to the next.”
1. There are no words
“I had a guy catcall me on the subway platform at like midnight and then when I ignored him he walked by, said “no one wants you bitch” then spat toward me (it landed on my bag I have doused this bag in bleach but still haven’t touched it again). This was like a week ago, so still very fresh in my memory.”
It really bummed me out that many of my pals had multiple stories of street harassment or felt like their examples were too common. Although these gross experiences are happening to women every day that doesn’t make every encounter with harassment uniquely disturbing and upsetting. So gentlemen, in 2016 maybe try not yelling things at women who cross your path and say something if you’re around someone who does! And ladies— stay strong, and be safe and, most importantly, keep killing it.
