[Technology] Cat-calling

[The Clamp]

Some of the stuff described here is not what I remember as cat-calling but downright sexual harassment. Or is the building site or white van "Phwooar" sexual harassment too? Is any of it acceptable? It certainly wouldn't be acceptable inside a workplace.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-43718034

 

[sydney]

another nail in the coffin of hot blooded men and women .......if only we could transport the gender bias to countries where it is acceptable to have 14 kids .....ffs , the world is a very strange place these days .

 

[Beanstalk]

None of it is acceptable. Speaking to strangers, often aggressively, to purposefully make them feel uncomfortable is crappy behaviour full stop.

 

[wellquickwoody]

A couple of those examples are off the scale of acceptability and blokes should be ashamed to actually direct those comments at a woman. Some of the lesser stuff in life though, it is called flirting.

 

[Gazwag]

It's a rainy afternoon in east London and two women are writing these words on a pavement in coloured chalk.

Daft bints don't do it in the rain it'll wash away

 

[Beanstalk]

A couple of those examples are off the scale of acceptability and blokes should be ashamed to actually direct those comments at a woman. Some of the lesser stuff in life though, it is called flirting.

Literally, pulled from the article.

Sophie says: "I find a lot of men that will talk to me have trouble knowing where the line is drawn. When it's harassment and a compliment, or flirting.

"The street isn't the right place. There are bars, dating apps and so many other ways to flirt and court and I think the street should be off-limits."

 

[Hillian1]

Outraged over here.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Some of the stuff described here is not what I remember as cat-calling but downright sexual harassment. Or is the building site or white van "Phwooar" sexual harassment too? Is any of it acceptable? It certainly wouldn't be acceptable inside a workplace.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-43718034

Sadly it still exists in the workplace. A friend of mine is an HR Director and one of the women at her workplace complained when one of her male colleagues said "That's a great dress, it really shows off your curves.". My friend dealt with it but next board meeting, where all the directors except my friend are male, she was questioned why she upheld the complaint as all it was really was a 'compliment'. This was coming from the CEO. She did no more than asked the CEO to stand up, looked him up and down, and said to him "I love those trousers. They really show the shape of your dick". Strangely no more was said as the CEO sat down feeling very uncomfortable.

With attitudes like that at the very top of the workplace what hope is there ?

 

[wellquickwoody]

Sadly it still exists in the workplace. A friend of mine is an HR Director and one of the women at her workplace complained when one of her male colleagues said "That's a great dress, it really shows off your curves.". My friend dealt with it but next board meeting, where all the directors except my friend are male, she was questioned why she upheld the complaint as all it was really was a 'compliment'. This was coming from the CEO. She did no more than asked the CEO to stand up, looked him up and down, and said to him "I love those trousers. They really show the shape of your dick". Strangely no more was said as the CEO sat down feeling very uncomfortable.

With attitudes like that at the very top of the workplace what hope is there ?

No more compliments then, how sad.

 

[AK74]

Tiddles.

Fluffy.

Simba.

Tiger.

 

[nwgull]

Tiddles.

Fluffy.

Simba.

Tiger.

Pussy

Growler

 

[Notters]

No more compliments then, how sad.

Nonsense. What's wrong with saying "that's a lovely dress?"

 

[Westdene Seagull]

No more compliments then, how sad.

Of course compliments are fine. In the situation I've described surely instead of :

"That's a great dress, it really shows off your curves."

The gentleman giving the compliment could have just said :

"That's a great dress."

 

[el punal]

Sadly it still exists in the workplace. A friend of mine is an HR Director and one of the women at her workplace complained when one of her male colleagues said "That's a great dress, it really shows off your curves.". My friend dealt with it but next board meeting, where all the directors except my friend are male, she was questioned why she upheld the complaint as all it was really was a 'compliment'. This was coming from the CEO. She did no more than asked the CEO to stand up, looked him up and down, and said to him "I love those trousers. They really show the shape of your dick". Strangely no more was said as the CEO sat down feeling very uncomfortable.

With attitudes like that at the very top of the workplace what hope is there ?

When does a compliment become offensive? The tone or manner in how it is said? If the person in question had said “That’s a great dress it really shows what a great figure you have” would that have been considered more complimentary/less offensive than the original description?

 

[Napper]

not really an issue generally.

Character building , both sees guilty of a flirt

 

[LlcoolJ]

Sadly it still exists in the workplace. A friend of mine is an HR Director and one of the women at her workplace complained when one of her male colleagues said "That's a great dress, it really shows off your curves.". My friend dealt with it but next board meeting, where all the directors except my friend are male, she was questioned why she upheld the complaint as all it was really was a 'compliment'. This was coming from the CEO. She did no more than asked the CEO to stand up, looked him up and down, and said to him "I love those trousers. They really show the shape of your dick". Strangely no more was said as the CEO sat down feeling very uncomfortable.

With attitudes like that at the very top of the workplace what hope is there ?

People are strange. My wife would (and has) taken comments like the one about the dress as a compliment. I struggle to understand why someone would complain about something so benign.

To me, this is exactly why real problems with actual nasty, sexist behaviour are brushed off as "PC gone mad" etc. Because the real issues are lumped in with stuff like this that's totally harmless, giving idiots the opportunity to write it all off as bullshit.

 

[nwgull]

Nonsense. What's wrong with saying "that's a lovely dress?"

Nothing, but I take the view that it’s safer to just not compliment any of my female co-workers clothing or hairstyle. I can’t be arsed with even the slightest chance of finding myself in a sexual harassment shit storm more making a benign compliment. This is sad.

 

[highflyer]

Putting aside the very obviously abhorrent examples (following a 16 year old girl down a dark street telling her to come home with you and you've 'got a friend too') - I am puzzled as to the perceived point of 'cat calling' from the point of view of the men doing it. How pathetically out of touch do you have to be in this day and age to still think shouting sexual remarks at strangers makes you a 'hot blooded male'?

How exactly do you foresee it playing out? That a woman will be so taken by your compliments that they won't be able to resist offering themselves to you. I don't know what is going on in mens minds when they do this. But the truth is you may as well just be standing in the street telling people that you're a total dick.

Odd

 

[marlowe]

Of course compliments are fine. In the situation I've described surely instead of :

"That's a great dress, it really shows off your curves."

The gentleman giving the compliment could have just said :

"That's a great dress."

Or even "That's a great dress, it really suits you" if you wanted the compliment to include the wearer of the dress.

 

[BadFish]

Nonsense. What's wrong with saying "that's a lovely dress?"

I would have thought that not mentioning a woman's curves was compliment 101.

Some women would take it as a sexual compliment which is not okay in that context and others would think you were calling them fat.