Saturday 17 May 2014

It's not a compliment

Today's post is a little different and is something that has been on my mind lately... Since my recent stint living in France, I have become much much more aware of 'catcalling' - when a comment of a sexual nature is directed at you, most often in a public place. Girls, i'm sure a lot of you have experienced this at some point in your lives whether its the classic wolf whistle, car horn honk, or general comment about your appearance.




When I was living in France I really noticed that it is definitely part of 'everyday life' in Europe; for me I rarely could walk around the city without hearing comments such as 'so beautiful' (when alone, definitely not seen a compliment), 'sexy lady', and even on the very rare occasion being followed. Don't get me wrong, I have noticed this in England also, just definitely not the same extreme.

Although I like to think I am quite a confident person and I can mostly brush off things like that by ignoring it, I feel it has deifnitely made me look at male strangers in a different way, especially those who are not my age. Instead of seeing them as any other person on the street, when I am alone and in an unfamiliar place, particularly at night, I feel my guard go up, which when you think about it is incredibly sad. 

Although I know 99% of catcalling will never amount to anything more than that - it's still something that I feel needlessly makes women feel vulnerable, self-conscious, and even scared - and it's become all too frequent in today's society.

There is quite an interesting video about this matter here where the roles are reversed. Even-though it's quite funny to watch at parts, it's definitely thought provoking about what is acceptable as all of these scenarios are real-life experiences of women's 'normal' lives.

What do you think about Catcalling? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Alice x 

4 comments:

  1. Oh thanks.
    Bloody thanks.
    I just wished so long one day, we'll stop doing ootd post to get through What is actually happening .
    And then I thought, i really think in France we are the Only one to have this problem.
    God Knows in Great Britain, guys are lovely (or maybe its Only What i felt) but i was more terrifies by getting in a right With girls There (they do have strong personnalities!) than being the victim of a man.
    That i always feel in France.
    You can Read pièces of my feminism in my blog its now I feel on the moment so sometimes not always focused on cat calling but Still.
    Xxx
    Love from Paris,
    Lorna

    Http://lornasharp.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for the comment :) Yes I will go and read that! x

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  2. I really want to go backpacking in Europe and explore the city life over there. Enjoyed reading your post though xx

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    1. Oh definitely, don't get me wrong France is a fantastic place! Europe is a must-do for a trip at some point :) x

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