pizsexual:

I have heard numerous times that complaining about catcalling isn’t even worth the time, because “you must be a spoiled brat if that’s the worst thing you have to deal with.” Well, let me tell you why it’s an issue, and a HUGE one at that. You know how women are always taught to stay away from strange men? You know how we always hear about women getting raped and killed, or going missing every day? So whenever a strange man just randomly comes up to us and says something to us, our automatic reaction is to feel uncomfortable and worried. What if I’m not interested in this man? What if I show him I’m not interested and he tries to hurt me? Why is it so important to him that I know how he feels about me, a stranger?

And then there are the groups of men who catcall women. I don’t even know how men think that’s ever acceptable. A group of men could literally do anything to a single woman. When I’m walking home and I have a car full of men following me, I feel nothing but scared for my life. NOT flattered.

Now, let me tell you my personal story, or stories I should say. Whenever I am catcalled, I am scared shitless. Why? 

One time, as I’m walking to work, a man drives by me and says, “hey beautiful, do you need a ride?”
I say, “thank you, but I’m almost to work, so I’m okay.”
“Well, I’ll pay you fifty bucks if you give me head, just saying.”
“No.”
“A hundred?”
“No. Goodbye.”
He then tried to hit me with his car.

Another time, I was walking downtown looking for my boyfriend. As I’m walking, a man walks up to me and says, “hello miss, how are you doing tonight?” He looks friendly, so I tell him about my night and how I’m trying to find my boyfriend. He then puts his arm around my waist and whispers in my ear:
“Honey, he’s gone. He went off with some other chick, to some other party, he left you alone because he didn’t wanna be around you, obviously. But I want you. Come back to my place, baby, and we can have a good time.” I then struggle to pull away from him, but he drags me with him down the street. Two bouncers see him pulling me and pull me off of him and tell him to leave. Instead of finding my boyfriend, I go home without him.

Now, every time I leave my house alone I am followed by a man in his car. I like to take my son on walks, but I can’t even do that in my own neighborhood.
The first time I saw him, he slowly passed me, then immediately pulled into a driveway and turned around. He drove next to me in his car, repeating “Hey, what’s your name? What’s your name?” over and over. I turn onto a different street and he follows me, still asking, even though I was blatantly ignoring him. I kindly tell him I’m only trying to walk my baby, and he speeds off, blowing exhaust in my baby’s face, then passes me four more times on the way home, giving me a dirty look. I take my baby on a walk a week later, expecting it not to happen again, and again, he follows me. I find out he lives in my neighborhood. The police tell me there’s nothing they can do because he’s driving in his own neighborhood. Now, I take my mother or father with me on walks, and he still drives by. He has passed me on four different walks. I can’t even walk in my own neighborhood without being scared over being catcalled.

And then there’s my friend’s cousin who was beaten, raped, murdered, and thrown into a lake by a strange man she rejected and his friend.

So you may think it’s just a simple “Hi, beautiful. How are you doing today?“ That should be taken as a compliment, but I see it as a potential threat to my safety.