Show Some Respect

“Come back beautiful!”

“Looking good!”

These are phrases women and girls will hear catcalled throughout their lifetimes.This “whistle, shout, or comment of a sexual nature to a woman passing by” is highly uncomfortable and not acceptable.

Being females ourselves in today’s society leaves us questioning why there is not a law against street harassment of women. Everyday women are being objectified and followed on the streets, but there is not a law there to protect us from this. Nielsen from the New York Times says such a law would forbid “uninvited harassing speech or actions targeted toward individuals in public spaces on the basis of sex or sexual orientation when done with the intent to intimidate.” Imagine having this law in place! It would scare away the harassers and leave the women who are being harassed feeling more powerful.       

Shoshana Roberts took her catcalling investigation to the streets by having her boyfriend record her discreetly while he walked in front of her. “The camera picked up over 100 instances of street harassment in one day… ranging in severity from men shouting ‘good morning’ and ‘how you doing’ to men following her for several minutes, walking uncomfortably close.” Robert’s posted this video on the internet and was a victim of more harassing comments. She even began receiving rape threats through Twitter. Her critics mainly questioned whether saying “good morning” actually constitutes harassment, but from Robert’s experiments, and the experiences of many others, “most street harassment is men aggressively asking me how I’m doing.” Although not all women may feel threatened by this type of behavior, it’s still a huge issue in society as no one should ever feel uncomfortable.

Journalist Conor Friedersdorf believes that even though catcalling is not necessarily socially acceptable, there shouldn’t be a law that prohibits it. Friedersdorf writes “Catcalling would criminalize speech, a clear violation of the First Amendment.” He thinks if catcalling was outlawed, there would be restrictions on other forms of free speech. Trying to limit one thing would lead to many more restrictions within communities. Although these are valid points they are not enough to ignore catcalling.

To conclude, catcalling is highly disrespectful. There should be a law prohibiting it so women can feel powerful and know that the law is on their side. There are so many forms of street harassment on women and it is not something that only will happen once or twice in a woman’s lifetime. It is something that can happen everyday to women.