Cat Calling Experiences
Have you ever been shouted at from a car while walking down the street? Ever been explicitly talked about as you walked by a group of people? Did it make you feel uncomfortable? Exposed? Everyone's had this happen to them at some point in their life and this is the place to tell us about your experience. Let's air out our dirty laundry together!
What is your most memorable experience with cat calling? How did it make you feel? This could be only one word or the whole story.
- when i ran for school student leader elections. 😉
- feel angry at them.
- i can safely say that no one has ever done anything like that to me, nor do i think they feel any compulsion to.
- i've had quite a few encounters with catcalling here in norton. when i go out for a run, it is not uncommon for a young male to yell out his window something like "sexy" or another questionable phrase. i never have much of a chance to respond because they're driving off into the distance, so i typically just shoot them a dirty look. when this happens, it makes me feel like a piece of meat, like i'm not a human with real feelings, just some bimbo whose appearance serves as entertainment for males. catcalling is quite disrespectful in my opinion.
- i remember in middle school i was walking down the street with a guy friend and a passing car honked or shouted at me, and i didn't know whether to swear at him or just ignore it. i was livid!
- i was walking to walgreens alone, which already made me feel vulnerable. my roommate and i had gotten catcalled from cars when we walked there together. sometimes it was flattering, but mostly it was annoying and crude. i had to stop and wait to cross the street, and while standing there, a car full of young guys blasting music came up and slowed way down. the windows were open, and several of them leaned out the windows and called "heyyy!" "woo woo!" and all manners of things. it wasn't as if i was dressed up or standing provocatively. it was the middle of winter; i was bundled up in many layers, so any evidence of my shape was hidden. but they didn't care about that; i was a girl, standing alone, trapped by the traffic, and had to listen to them. it felt gross and demeaning. i tried to flip them off after a few minutes of this, but...i was wearing mittens. that was embarrassing.
- one day, i was walking down a street in my neighborhood and a man on the top floor of an apartment called down to me and started making some sexual gestures. i was so uncomfortable that i ran down the street and felt frightened every time i walked there. he has since moved away, but i still feel uncomfortable and remember the experience every time i walk there.
- i had an experience when i was running near campus by myself. it was a residential street with little to no regular traffic. i had a car drive by me and blow their horn at me and it was not in a friendly manner. the car was driven by a man in his mid-twenties. if i had been with other people i would have made a rude gesture at him to express that what he just did was not appreciated. however, being that i was by myself, i did not feel comfortable or safe performing that action. although it was not a serious encounter, it made me feel uncomfortable and exposed, like i was wearing less clothing than i really was.
- i studied abroad in a spanish-speaking country and the most memorable experience i had while there was when i was walking down the street, by myself, with my ipod headphones in. i momentarily looked down at my ipod and in that time, a man who had been passing by me put his face about 6 inches from mine and yelled "mami." then he kept walking. at first i felt shocked, then after the fact i felt like he had totally intruded on my space and i felt anxious and offended.
- i was in prague; the men are much more outspoken in europe.