Have you ever had a post about the worst cat calls you've ever received? I think it would generate some funny comments. For instance, yesterday I had some drunken undergrad scream at me from the top of an abandoned amphitheater, "YO! Shorts Girl! I like your shorts but not your satchel!
WTF? First of all, I don't carry a satchel. Second of all, I had just been departing a graduate class on gender roles and wanted to scream some esoteric Butlerian bullshit about the male gaze and sense of propriety in objectification. Instead I just kept walking. But I always find it funny what dudes yell at me to get my attention.The only thing guys yell at me on the street is, "Hey, Big Girl!" It makes me wanna crawl in a hole and die. It's so embarrassing. I assume I get that yelled at me so much because I'm very tall, but it's not like, a nice thing to hear. No woman wants to be called "big" at a low volume in the comfort of her own home, much less have it screamed at her from a sidewalk from a bunch of goofballs in carpenter jeans.
It's not really a compliment either; it's more like an aggressive observation. I couldn't imagine yelling such a thing at a stranger. I know I'm 6'1". Believe me, I have to figure out where to buy jeans; I know my size isn't normal. I just don't appreciate men hollering stuff like that at me. When it happens, I just shoot 'em dirty looks. If I'm in a bad mood, I'll flip 'em the bird or scream back at them to drop dead. I guess I'm a big girl with a big mouth to match.
What's the worst cat call you've ever received? Tell us in the comments!
31 comments:
a group of hispanic construction workers aggressive barked at me once and also a guy followed me into a dunkin donuts yelling "yo" while his mother, who was walking with him laughed.
I work on North Broad so I am accustom to hearing "that's what I'm talking about" "damn girl, look at that bootie" "yum, yum" etc
Once some guy yelled to me from his car, "Hey, girl! You BOW-LEGGED!"
Is that a good thing? I thought people got corrective surgery for that.
I once had an NYPD officer say to me, "Mmm baby I'd love to eat my lunch off your ass."
Even if I wasn't a nervous 17 year old girl, who are you supposed to complain to when a cop catcalls you, the construction workers?
i also had latino construction workers bark at me...but they didn't just bark, they got down on all fours, while on on the roof of the house they were building, and then bark as me and my friend walked the entire length of the street.
dangerous AND disgusting.
I get a lot of comments about how fat or "thick" I am. The best/worst was "Damn girl, you FAT....(ten second pause)...in a good way!" Dude, has that ever worked for you?
Does being followed by a car while being hooted at count as a cat call? Because if so, that's probably the worst. Otherwise the worst would be when this older man on my campus (I'm a second year grad student) said, "Excuse me, I don't usually say this to children, but you look hot." The "children" part really got me there.
I know this is not what you asked for but I just have to share because yesterday I got the BEST cat call of my life. I was walking along (looking fly, it's true,) and a guy says extremely politely "excuse me!" so I stop because I figure I dropped something or he's going to ask for directions or whatever, and he goes, "May I flirt?" And I'm like, "excuse me?" and he goes, "may I flirt with you for a moment?" and I'm a little flustered and also not physically attracted to him though he has a great smile and looks totally decent and I'm like "actually I'm on my way somewhere but thank you for the sentiment!" and he hands me a business card and says "Ok well if you ever have time, please let me know. Also, if you'd ever like your eyebrows done, it's on the house!" and I don't know whether it was the most polite catcall ever or just good marketing but the whole thing was a trip for real.
" HEY BABY WHY ARE YOU SO TALL?"
what? because I am tall. that doesnt even make sense.
I once got "Damn, girl, you tittehs lookin' *nice*!"
On a trip to Toronto, I was walking down a street with a lot of student housing when what I can only assume to be a frat boy yelled, "Hey baby, I wanna wear you like a hockey mask!" Needless to say, I cracked up--it was quite the welcome to Canada.
A man in philly once yelled at me from a parked car as I walked by, "Hey baby, do you have a license to carry that lethal body?"
I think it was a block later that same day that another man said "I'm gonna f*** you" as I walked by.
My neighborhood has a catcalling problem.
A guy started following me while screaming the lyrics of "Pretty Woman" when I was on a walk. He was very persistent...
Once I was walking from starbucks back to my school, and this kid from another high school started walking behind me and asking me questions. I answered him politely but in one word. then he started to say very offensive things.. like "Ay! ay little girl, I bet you could take me!" and "Come here little white girl, you know what they say about black guys!" So I turned around and kicked him in the shins...
From across the beach: "Hey! Keep your shirt on!"
... I wasn't going to take it off, bro...
In America, "I wanna fuck you in that position" yelled at me while I was bent over the drop bars of my bike.
In Korea- frantic man runs up to me on the street and thrusts his phone at me. "Phone number! Very beautiful!"
I was leaving the North Star with my sister and a girlfriend, and a trash truck followed us along Poplar Street for about 3 blocks. The two guys were trying to get our attention and when it didn't work one said "what do you take me for, a piece of trash?" We still laugh about that.
Another time, a bum on a bike rode by my sister and said "I wanna cut you up like a piece of meat." She later realized she could have just pushed his bike over.
Those are 2 favorites.
the worst I've ever gotten was when I was walking by myself down a street in chicago at about 8pm (it was already dark). I was sick with a fever and was in a slightly sketchy neighborhood I wasn't familiar with. a middle-aged man rode up behind me on a bike and whispered "mami" into my ear as he passed. it was terrifying.
Sometimes I wish I knew Spanish just because I'm pretty sure some of the best cat calls I ever got I will never know about because I didn't understand the language in which they were spoken (yelled). My dream is to one day be able to yell back at them in Spanish and see the look of chagrin strike their faces.
Uh immediately after I posted my first comment, I went outside, an older "gentleman" said "Nice day" to me so I responded "it sure is" then he replied,"yeah good day for me to eat you for dinner."
Worst one: "Hey you like fried rice?" I'm Asian, of course.
Best ones:
Homeless man in Berkeley: "What beauty walks before my eyes!" Said in the most well-enunciated dramatic and poetic way.
Man in San Francisco: "What's up, beautiful? You know the sun only came out today because of you."
Worst and best are the same thing, right?
One of my favorites is from an SF hobo: "Hey, you look kinda fucked up. It's turning me on. Do you want me to go down on you?"
Watch out, don't slip forward! (pointing at my tits)
Are you Russian? You've got nice, hard Russian legs (I'm not Russian, nor are my legs).
"Nice tits."
How uncreative can you get?
This wasn't directed at me, but by far the most insulting catcall I've ever heard was "Bust a NUT right there" while looking at a girl's butt...
I want to flip the question. I've read in several places about the awful, annoying remarks people make to tall women. I've twice recently been at events where a tall woman was present and I simply wanted to say something nice to complement her on her height. Of course, I didn't say anything. Can anyone suggest what might be nice to say?
Honestly, I don't like when strangers make a comment about my body. I think it's rude.
Listen, she knows she's tall. She had nothing to do with it. That's up to her genes. It's weird to compliment a person on something she had nothing to do with, right? If you wanted to give a compliment, you can't go wrong with calling a girl beautiful. She knows that when you say that she's beautiful that you're including her height in that compliment. No need to call attention to it.
I mean, if a guy were like, "I love how tall you are!" I'd give him the side eye then mumble, "Cool story bro." It'd be like me telling a girl, "I love how short you are!" Or telling a guy, "I love your beer belly. It's so cuddly!" Or telling a stranger, "What a fantastic mole you have!" See how invasive that sounds?
That's just my two cents. Thoughts?
My favorite was when some dude said to me "Dayum girl, your toes look fine in them sandals!" (they didn't)
The worst was the guy who said "hey you, i want to finger you" while making some obscene gestures.
I'm gonna bring out my cat hiss next time someone says that shit.
Oh man, I live in Bed Stuy in Brooklyn, so 'cat calls' are a daily encounter. I personally get a huge kick out of them, its kind of flattering! seldom does the dude ACTUALLY think you're going to turn around and say OMG let me give you my number.. they're just trying to get a rise out of you, or to show off to their friends.
But by far, my two faves:
"Damn girl, you's a whole chicken! Breasts... legs... thighs... MM MM MMM!"
and I've actually gotten this one multiple times in various forms:
"Oh shit its America's Next Top Model.... me love you long time!!!"
Once while in Portland, walking with my then one year old son, a guy pulled over & told me that I had the most beautiful legs he ever saw. I was complimented but sketched out.
Also many, many big girl comments from my height to my tits.
Once when I was in high school walking up Chelten Ave in Germantown in my uniform a young man stepped in front of me and yelled SHAKE. It was unnerving. I side stepped him and got out of there.
My take on drive-by cat calls is that it is not so much the content of the message, but the disempowerment that comes with it that is the most frustrating; the cat calls come so quickly that we have little chance to react. When we do, it's not like we can offer a commentary on the subject matter of the cat call. We also can't tell them off for being base, hostile, or just creepy. Usually our responses take one of two tracks: the ignore or the flip off. Either way, it always feels like they have won.
This summer, my friend and I were walking back from getting a drink at a local watering hole when a group of guys drove by and provided a generic, "hey girl, hey" cat call. I don't know what came over me. I did the elbow push back, finger snap, head bob, step forward motion and then yelled after them the following: "You like pizza? Everybody likes pizza!"
There was no circle back on their part. My friend and I almost peed ourselves laughing and I definitely did not feel disempowered by the situation.
Lines I plan to try in the future:
I threw my pie for you.
I was really popular in high school.
Hurry up with my darn croissants.
You gotta find what works for you.
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