The Social Science Behind Catcalling
How to explain street remarks to any guy or girl.
A total stranger once asked me to model for him. He didn’t even bother with preamble, just walked up and asked if I’d be interested. “Hey, you should model for me sometime. Yeah?” It felt especially awkward because I was a professor. And he was obviously a student.
Of course, maybe he thought I was a college girl. How flattering (she said semi-seriously, approaching her 40s).
Most people I know agree the incident was either creepy or funny (or both). Was it harassment or catcalling, though?
That’s where opinion splits.
Lots of men — and women — argue that a simple “Good morning, beautiful” doesn’t qualify as catcalling. Neither does stopping an attractive woman on the street and telling her that she’s beautiful. That you like her hair. Or that she should pose for you sometime.
Sociolinguists have a few things to say on this topic. Not all harmless greetings and compliments are created equal.
First, geography matters.
You might remember a YouTube video that went viral a few years ago, “10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman.” None of the men in the video engage in outright verbal harassment. Instead, they say things like…
