Why? While walking to lab today, I got my first cat call of the year. Woo. I don’t know if there’s something about warm weather that gets guys all worked up, or if it’s the fact that I’m no longer wearing jackets and sweaters that hide my boobage*, but this always happens in the summer. Seriously, can someone with more testosterone than me explain this phenomenon to me? I really don’t get why guys think it’s so awesome to hang halfway out of their car whistling and yelling nonsensical flirtations to some random girl. I never know if I should be flattered, or if they’re just doing it sarcastically to mock me…
Me: I don’t get catcalling, like while you’re driving away quickly. What’s the point?
Male Friend: I think it’s more about the guys in the group… guys don’t do it alone
Me: Yeah, it was the passenger in a car. I just don’t get it
Male Friend: Oh, so he was a Scrub. You don’t want none of that.
Me: lol scrubs don’t get no love from me, don’t worry
*I’ve been told that I have “surprise boobs.” Most of my shirts come up to my neck so no gratuitous cleavage, and from about September to April I’m wearing sweaters that apparently flatten me out. I’ve caused more than one guy to go wide eye with shock the first time they see me shirtless. This is why I don’t get girls that flaunt cleavage all the time – it’s so much more fun to take them by surprise! That being said, my threadless shirts are pretty tight in the chest, so I guess that shows them off a bit. You know what, I can’t help that they make those shirts for skinny A cup girls… Wow, I’ve been a bit obsessed with boobs lately, haven’t I? I can’t stop talking about them! Boobs! Boobies! Breasticles! Ahhhhhh!!!
Flirting with women does make a guy feel more manly, and it is more fun when the woman in question is skimpily dressed. (Lots of clothes tells guys “Go away.”) As for what they hope to accomplish…a guy who hopes to accomplish more than a momentary feel-good out of that is kidding himself.
Boobs boobs boobs. Glorious boobs!!!
@themaengineer: Except catcalling isn’t actually flirting.
and the whole “lots of clothes tell guys ‘Go away.’ is rather presumptuous of you. You’re justifying why women should be dressed to garner the attention of catcalling morons. If not, men would not feel “manly” enough.
Epic fail you jackass.
and I’m sorry if you were being silly and are a contributing commenter on this blog. That was my initial reaction to your comment.
Sorry, do people still cat-call in this century? I had no idea.
Cat-calling strikes me as an assertion of male dominance. “Look at me! I’m so awesomely powerful that I can say rude sexual things to you.” Like frat guys in a jeep making fun of a nerd as they drive by. Being decent myself, I don’t know exactly how the cat-callers themselves experience their own motivations — though I read an article about this, I think in the NYT Magazine, a few years ago. I vaguely recall several cat-callers protesting that they were genuinely and spontaneously expressing their admiration for the beauty of passers by. But even if that self-serving rationalization excused being a jerk (which it does not — why does cat-calling have to be so aggressive? It’s not like these guys are just saying spontaneously expressing their admiration), it’s hard to imagine these guys behaving similarly upon seeing statues in the Louvre.
Assertion of male dominance? I think you’re looking way too far into it. I would never catcall a gal, because it’s a douchey thing to do, but seriously – it’s just a guy being a guy trying to act cool with friends. Nothing more, nothing less.
Obviously, it’s not cool, which we know, but still.
Whoever said that no scrubs comment is obviously a comedic genius…
“It’s just a guy being a guy trying to act cool with friends. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Right, and the use of ‘he’ as a neutral pronoun is just tradition. Nothing more, nothing less.
@Fraser: There are some people who will unpleasantly surprise you. Usually they’re drunk, stupid, or both.
@Jeremiah: Partially I’m being goofy about it, but it’s been my observation watching a drive-by-catcalling, that the guy seems to think he’s being complimentary, though the target of his affection has been at best confused. The most usual response seems to be an eye-rolling.
And women should be able to dress however they feel like. Just because some people decide to act like jackasses about it doesn’t end that.
On a totally unrelated note… On showing your boobs off, I have got to push those boobs up, and show what I have… little A’s need all the help they can get. Any sort of disguise is to make them bigger not smaller. lol…
I think catcalling is really impolite. Those kind of guys are just morons. I’m happy when summer comes and all those boobs blossom around me. But I keep that warm feeling of happiness inside my hearth. ;-)Hurray for boobs!
Enrico
I’ve got C/D cup breasts, so it’s not as though I need to wear low-cut shirts to show them off. They stand out fairly well on their own. But I like the way I look when I display cleavage. *shrug* Nothing terribly confusing about it, really.