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Catcalls and the Death of Chivalry
Savages around the globe are murdering young women, selling them into sex slavery, and tossing acid into their faces. But a new viral video wants to redirect our outrage to another battleground of the global war on women: catcalls.
The video appeared yesterday in my Facebook feed with an image of a female and the headline “This is what it’s like to be catcalled on the street 108 times in a single day.” At first I thought it a humblebrag, but soon discovered it was yet another campaign to make men feel guilty.
After a brief search on social media, the video was being shared by several flamboyantly contrite men and enraged women. “Wow! I guess men still don’t get it.” “Men are disgusting animals.” “All you men should be ashamed of yourselves.”
I didn’t have the slightest shame watching the video, nor should any male with whom I associate. We don’t catcall. Of course some guys are boors as are some women. I don’t need a video to prove that human nature is a thing.
In the young woman’s 10-hour stroll through New York City, the video shows 20 incidents of harassment (two per hour), while text at the conclusion alleges more than 100. Some of the behavior is downright creepy while much isn’t disturbing at all.
Apologies to the video editor, but “how you doing today,” “how are you this morning,” and “have a nice evening” hardly count as harassment. If they do, I’m violated by polite tourists, panhandlers, and assertive shopkeepers every time I stroll along a busy city street.
All gentlemen agree that catcalling is a bad thing. In fact patriarchal Victorians were so disgusted by such rudeness, they enforced an elaborate public morality that elevated women with a higher level of respect. Thank goodness feminism and secularism drove a stake through chivalry’s heart.
Today’s Victorianism comes from the left. They too have an elaborate public morality, but one that is untethered to tradition or religion. Their guiding scripture is whatever trendy philosophy is coming out of gender studies departments and mass media in a given month. Men leering at Beyoncé on an awards show is celebrated; similar behavior on the street is anathema.
For better or worse, I’ve never followed fashion. Not only have I never catcalled, I still open doors for women, surrender my seat on public transport, and ensure that I treat them with an extra measure of kindness. I was notified by several liberal men on Twitter that this is A Bad Thing.
You see, it’s good that I oppose catcalling, but bad that I don’t oppose it for the “proper” reasons. While my outward acts of kindness are nice, they arise from a belief that gender differences exist. To these critics, my actions are unimportant; my ideology must be condemned.
Progressivism is about intentions, not results. Nevertheless, I will continue to practice chivalry even though it is unfashionable.
Published in General
30? I think you’re being generous. If she were more attractive now, she wouldn’t have to resort to a 10 hour walk through the ghetto to get 90 seconds of attention.
I’m going to be a contrarian on this one. I hate seeing this kind of boorish behavior. If I saw my sons acting in this way I’d be ashamed and furious.
A young woman, any woman for that matter, has the right to walk the streets without being accosted by a bunch of jerks. I’m not talking about the guys who say, “Have a nice day.” But the ass___ who walked along with her for 10 minutes, and a few other of the more intrusive ones, ought to think about how their behavior can create a sense of insecurity in a vulnerable female out by herself in the city.
30 years is being extremely generous. For her body type she’s at her peak. The word for her is Zaftig. In a few short years (less if childbirth intervenes) she will be (not to put too fine a point on it) FAT. Some men, especially as we’ve been so delicately putting it, in certain socio-economic groups really go for the Zaftig type, but will bail when it goes to fat. Hence the neighborhoods teeming with overweight woman and fatherless kids. I wonder if that’s why she was trolling those neighborhoods. She’d know she’d get a lot of “hits”.
You are in so much trouble with the PCP right now, I’m literally overwhelmed by the giggles. :)
If I was walking through these streets with that woman as my sister, wife or daughter, those boors would have gotten a comment or two. The women I grew up with would have cuffed me good and hard if I had done any of those. I understand the insecurity and fear that women have walking by themselves. Yesterday I was arranging to stay late at a store I was working in; I wanted to watch the equipment for a bit to make sure it was working, and someone was going to have to come and let me out. The women sternly told me that they would come only on condition that I would stay close until they were in their vehicle. This wasn’t a dangerous neighborhood, simply that these women feared for their safety. They didn’t fear for mine, and I didn’t either.
The contradiction becomes clear. A woman needs the protection of a man, but doesn’t want to be dependent.
I suspect that some of this comes out of the slut walk movement. Women on campus were getting assaulted, and the police told them what they tell everyone who is a victim; lock your doors, don’t go places that are dodgy, don’t be alone. Some brilliant fool decided that women should be able to go wherever they want dressed any way they want.
Great. I want a unicorn. Can I have one?
Quite a few of the men looked and sounded mentally ill to me.
Somewhere, Sir Mix-A-Lot is smiling.
Exjon, thank you for pointing out the horrible misogyny practiced overwhelmingly by urban union members who uniformly vote Democrat.
Baby got back!
Would hardly be the first time.
That video reminded me of this scene from “Barbershop” (skip to the 30-second mark):
She’s a dark-haired, non-pasty-faced gal who’s fairly little in the middle with a rack and a back. Perhaps she matches certain ethnic groups’ standards of beauty better than others’, and shouldn’t be surprised attract a disproportionate amount of attention from those ethnic groups. It’s almost like there’s a song about it.
(At least, that’s what I always assumed, matching those descriptors myself.)
You other brothers can’t deny…
10 hours of walking in New York City as a man:
http://youtu.be/UpJYnLrzB8I
@MLR: How on Earth???
I am the Kwai-Chang Caine of the internet. My Google-fu is strong.
@ the Kwai: Damn.
This amuses me, not because she is being “harassed,” but because she is doing this in the epitome of Leftist cities. I know, I hate to go straight to the political with this, but politics is the driving force behind this video. She is in the Leftist capital of the world where hedonism is celebrated as true liberation. These men are just acting in a manner that is said to be A-okay in their surrounding culture because it is sexual in nature. But I guess in the real world, much like how the Left wishes it to be on colleges, only women can be the sexual aggressors. I wonder if she would have had the same response had she been walking in say Dallas or OKC or Birmingham?
First I didn’t think half of the “verbal abuse” were catcalls or abuse. There’s no crime or even insensitivity in trying to talk to someone. Second, she specifically chose neighborhoods where such behavior is encouraged. I’ve lived in New York for 49 of the 52 years of my life and on the whole it is not like that. The real catcalls and “verbal abuse” I condemn as rude.
I met my wife in a bar. There I was just sitting there trying to drink a beer and this strange drunk chick started talking to me… FOR NO REASON. The harassment never ends with these people. Now after 11 years of marriage she just….. keeps…. on…. talking….. Here I am just trying to eat and she wants to hear about my day, and whats going on at work, and tell me about important things that are going on. I am *literally* in fear for my life.
Sabrina Schaeffer wrote this piece about it at the Federalist making many of the same points we’ve made here.
Between the two I’m reminded of this bit from Jerry Clower:
The racial controversy is amusing. Apparently, the producer of the video claims that he edited out most of the white catcalls because their voices were drowned out by street noise or otherwise did not fit into the video. In reality, however, I’m guessing there were almost no white catcallers (the few on the video seem fairly innocuous and their actions are more akin to a hat-tip than harassing shouting, following, whistling, gestures, etc.), and the producer is fudging about the alleged unseen white catcallers to appease those who demand that all racial and ethnic groups engage in unsocial behavior in equal amounts.
And, the comments about this woman’s figure, although mean, are entirely accurate. This angle is likely to interest more people than the feminist narrative the “auteur” of this piece intended. My wife’s cousin looks a lot like the nice young lady in the video. She gets tremendous interest from black guys and has dated two NFL players. But she says she can’t find a suitable white guy. Only nerdy whites are interested.
Seems appropriate:
https://screen.yahoo.com/sexual-harassment-000000677.html
My girlfriend excitedly told me that she got a “catcall” from someone inside a bar she was walking past (she exercises every day) . . . She took pride that it meant she was still attractive. She is younger than I but still past the video woman’s age.
I agree with some other posts: 30-40 yrs may be too long. I am thinking 10-15. Men are visual and are stimulated thereby.
I’ve been seeing this video all over my Facebook page from my more progressive friends, and I found it stupid. This is nothing new, nor typical of the general nature of men. In my experience as EThompson already pointed out those kinds of catcalls usually came from a certain type of guy who you could spot from a mile away, usually you just ignore him and keep walking. I never thought I was in danger or that all men were louts.
Feminists are really annoying in that they can’t seem to make up their minds, are women strong and independant enough to handle these kinds of situations or weak little creatures that need the world to handle us with kid gloves.
First, nerds can be pretty awesome. Second, gals don’t get to control what guys are attracted to. They just have to make the best of it. If your assets are such that you tend to attract nonwhites and nerdy whites, it might be better to work with that than resent it. There are a lot of nerdy or nonwhite guys out there who’d make some gal a wonderful husband.
Thanks for sticking up for the nerds Midge!
Yes, the idea that men may not find all women attractive all the time is one of the more controversial propositions out there. The fact that *hot guys* may not find obese, tatted up, furry, and/or short haired women attractive is apparently literally causing girls to kill themselves, and this should never ever be allowed to be mentioned. Ask Nash Grier. he just didn’t like upper lip hair much, which caused a quarter million people to lose their collect nut.
I look forward to the inevitable “10 Hours Of Walking In New York City As A Cat” parody.
It is kind of amusing, because it is perfectly acceptable for a woman to be attracted to a man (or not). This distinction, by the way, is why the quarter back of the football team gets called “handsy” instead of being charged with sexual battery. I have always said that the difference between creepy and romantic is a very fine line and entirely subject to the whims of the target of affection.