A cat call compromise?

Question

Many women have made it abundantly clear that they do not enjoy being cat called. Many others claim it is a harmless compliment, hardly a reason to get your panties twisted.

I think everyone agrees that compliments are nice. Is the main issue with cat calls the element of rudeness? If a man, pleasantly and politely, told a woman that she was attractive, without the standard hoots and hollers, would this render cat calls less offensive?

Answer 1

As catcalls are by definition derisive, women ought to be outraged by them... I infer that you mean something along the lines of "wolf whistles," which certainly bring sexual relations down to an unsubtle, animal level; but people who've grown up with such as the norm aren't likely to have much silver-tongued courtesy at their disposal.  Stammered banalities might prove  as intolerable as the usual chorus of grunts and howls...

For the Common Good, I suppose that male (& female) plebeians should be restricted to  the subterranean section of Metropolis.    

Answer 2

Yes, they would be LESS offensive, but I still wouldn't really like them. I don't appreciate being eyed by someone I've never met.

Answer 3

No!  How about you keep your opinions to yourself.  I only have ever met two kinds of women that enjoy that type of behavior: 1. women who don't get them because they are too old and 2. the girl who is offended if the dog doesn't sniff her.  I don't ever think of cat calling a guy or approaching him to say that he is looking particularly good today.  I am sure he knows what he looks like so I just go on with my day.

Answer 4

I was walking to the train station the other day and a Hispanic man called me "Bonita."

And I didn't deck him! Does that count?

Answer 5

@Blah - ai que bueno  ;-)

Nah, cat call away mutter, that's the least of my worries right now.

(I like your little alliteration, btw.)

Answer 6

Perhaps ironically, I have heard a lot more women use cat calls than men.

Answer 7

It's best to keep your comments to yourself. It's rude to make highly personal comments about a stranger's body parts.