It's not flattering to get a compliment that doesn't degrade any part of you? It just means you're hot, not that you're a ****, not that you're an object, that you are aesthetically pleasing to the person who's whistling. It's not an attempt to pick up chicks, guys whistle at girls they find attractive to whistle at girls they find attractive.

Well... the way I see it, most girls think of whistling as something along the way of someone saying "Nice ****" and I mean that literally, as in not "nice breasts" but "nice ****"; you know, "vulgar slang." Or maybe even "Nice boobies!" or "Damn, girl, shake that ass!" Orrr... like someone quite obviously staring at your chest, ass, or even crotch. Or maybe, as someone put it before, like a slap on the rear... or maybe even a grope. And all most likely from somebody you don't even know... well, if it was from someone you know that'd actually be more piss-off worthy, and slightly disturbing (depending on who it is). Is it a compliment? Oh, sure, but that doesn't make it any less inappropriate, rude, aggrivating, or degrading. I personally think the degrading part comes from someone is calling the world's attention to you because they find you attractive. While it may seem odd, even hypocritical (for some women), that's basically what it is. It's kind of like advertising to the world that someone thinks you're a piece of booty, and that isn't what some women want to feel like. But that's just what I think. Plus blahblah all the other things people said and such... "whistling is for dogs, not girls"... Really, if I was whistled at for real, I'd also be pissed off. Then again, I just don't like attention period lol

Ok well if you're trying to let a girl know she's attractive, how about once the window is rolled down you try using WORDS. You know, something like "Hey, you're attractive". Or even something like "hey pretty lady". Anything is better than a whistle. Now, I'm not one of these girls whose world is shattered by a whistle. As another woman has said, you just shrug it off and go on with your day. But why do men feel the need to let a woman know she's "aesthetically pleasing" by whistling at her? People whistle to get a DOG's attention. I think that's what a lot of women here are referring to when they say that it makes them feel like less of a person. When you're dealing with a human being, words would be nice.

Be careful what you wish for...I've gotten some pretty degrading words. "Hey there baby...glad you brought your legs today!" You just made me wish I could have left them at home. Really, the best strategy would be to mind your own business. She doesn't need you to tell her she's hot. If you're genuinely interested, introduce yourself politely and act like a decent person. If it's a random woman, she probably won't be interested, but at least you won't have treated her like an animal, and at least she won't think you're gross.

@201 -"Nice ****" is nowhere near as bad as ass-groping. BUt yea, that's pretty much whistleing. Heh, I know some chicks who wouldn't mind a friend doing it. I agree that it's rude and innapropriate for a stranger, but I always have a problem with it's "degradeing to women". I've never seen how that's degradeing when all it really means is "this jerk thinks you're hot"

@ 202 Like I said in other comments , I don't whistle at chicks. I think it's a dickish thing to do and everyone here is exaggerating it. Although you're suggestions seem....worse :P As for feeling less than human: Words allow for better communication, if there's something you could do to get that across with less effort than why not?

Oh, I wasn't accusing you of it, sorry if it came off that way. And yeah, I guess in some ways what I said seems worse...what I was trying to get across is there's more respectful (IMO) ways of getting your point across. For example: I was at CVS and a dude came up to me and started to talk to me. Though I have a boyfriend, I struck up a conversation and turned him down gently instead of ignoring him (or spouting off some smart remark...my mouth can get the better of me at times lol) because he came up to me like, "Hi, how are you?" instead of "EY MAMI YOU FINE AS ****" (I wish I could say I'm exaggerating with that last part but I really have been approached like that.) So I guess my point was that, its not a crime to find a girl attractive and hit on her, but the way you go about it makes a world of difference. (And thanks for not being a jerk who whistles lol)

There is a big difference between what the CVS guy was trying to do and what whistlers are trying to do. The guy at CVS was looking for a girlfriend, a whistler is just looking to tell a girl she's hot basically. I don't see why you wouldn't just look instead of drawing attention to yourself and making her know you're looking but whatever.

I suppose if you did have an unfortunate experience, it could make something like that a lot more disturbing. And just to clarify, I meant simply whistling. I agree that any threats or offers to get in the car would scare the shit out of me, and I wouldn't blame anyone who felt the same way in that situation. I was just commenting that some people were freaking out over just a whistle, which I don't find to be a very big deal.

We don't care if we look like pervs, and we're not trying to pick you up, atleast whistlers I know. They just wanna whistle at a hot chick.

Because whistling is the closest you can get to one? Get a life.

No, not really. And besides, I DON'T WHISTLE AT CHICKS.

Then why defend those who do? I'm assuming you don't for a reason.

Because you guys are all over-reacting. I think whistling is a slightly dickish move, a lot of the people who responded make it sound like rape, or atleast repeated gropeing. Also, I just know that people are whistling aren't doing it as a ridiculous attempt to pick up chicks.

@ mike Okay so just imagine this. You're walking down the street with your wife/sister/mother/girlfriend/some other woman you care about and out of nowhere some random guy whistles loudly at her. Are you really going to be completely okay with that? Like, laugh it off and tell them that someone thinks they're attractive and just continue on. I mean, I guess it depends on how she reacts. If it doesn't seem like a big deal to her then I guess it's okay to just forget it (though I don't know many guys that would be cool with having their girl/mother/sister hit on like that), but if she's upset about it then how could you not be upset as well? Would you think she was overreacting if she was upset that a creepy guy whistled loudly at her, drawing lots of unwanted attention her way? I know it's not the same thing as being groped or raped or whatever but it doesn't feel good and women aren't overreacting. It's not stupid to get upset about something that genuinely bothers you and often times men whistling at women does bother them.

Yes you are over-reacting. If my mother/sister/girlfriend got upset over something so ridiculous, I'd be embarrassed of them. If it doesn't feel good to you, fine. It's pretty sad if it makes you feel bad in anyway though. It doesn't draw "lots" of attention to you. People might glance up, and then probably at the person who whistled. Maybe if you want to be respected more as a person, you should get an opinion of your own and be upset over a real issue, instead of parroting the ridiculous outrage most women seem to feign over this complete non-issue.

Yes you are over-reacting. If my mother/sister/girlfriend got upset over something so ridiculous, I'd be embarrassed of them. If it doesn't feel good to you, fine. It's pretty sad if it makes you feel bad in anyway though. It doesn't draw "lots" of attention to you. People might glance up, and then probably at the person who whistled. Maybe if you want to be respected more as a person, you should get an opinion of your own and be upset over a real issue, instead of parroting the ridiculous outrage most women seem to feign over this complete non-issue.

Mobius and Mike, here's the deal. I really hate being whistled at, and it's clear that I'm not alone. I completely understand why you guys think it's harmless. No one gets physically hurt; hey, it's even a compliment! But please try to understand where we are coming from. If this discussion were about the OP grabbing his crotch and saying, "Oh yeah baby!" as she walked by, I don't think you'd think we were overreacting when we said it was gross and disrespectful, at least not quite as much. What I don't think you see, is that many women don't think of whistling and crotch grabbing as completely discrete concepts. We see them both as having places on a continuum of disrespect. It starts with staring, progresses to whistling, to verbal comments, to gross verbal comments, to gross comments and lewd gestures, to inappropriate invasion of space, to inappropriate attempts at touching, to aggressive attempts at touching...you see where I'm going here? So yes, whistling is mild, even harmless, but it reminds us that every day, we face the possibility of any of those other things. Moreover, I've had men become verbally abusive towards me just because I've ignored some of their unwelcome comments. What if one day one of them is REALLY pissed and decides to become physically aggressive? What if he has a weapon and I can't defend myself? Some of us don't live in tiny suburbs; for some of us, whistling is just another reminder that because we are women, we are more vulnerable to physical assault (and I'm not just talking about sexual violence here; we're more vulnerable to mugging too), and if we're smart, we're going to be constantly alert. And just to give you a better sense of where I'm coming from, my professors and colleagues tend to assume that because I'm a soft-spoken, pretty girl, I must be stupid and incompetent. I have to work against my natural personality and force myself to be outspoken, and on top of that work twice as hard in order to get the same kind of recognition as males in my field. My self-esteem is fine. I KNOW I'm intelligent, capable and attractive, and that I deserve the same amount of respect as any man. It's not the whistling itself that gets to me; it's the whole mentality of most men and even some women that we should be judged based on how we look. Yes, women have come a long way. We can compete for the same jobs as men, have the same opportunities for education, etc. I am deeply grateful for those things, but I still have to deal with setbacks, and on top of those setbacks, the scoffing of many men and some women at the idea that sexism even exists anymore. But it is alive and well. I truly believe that in a culture of equality, women wouldn't get catcalls. I see attractive men on the street all the time, but you don't see me whistling at them. Maybe you don't believe me, or trust the logic behind what I'm saying, but you need to understand that for many of us, this is a serious issue, and not just a casual dislike of men who whistle.

@Tib: Sister: she's 8 and I don't support pedophillia....soo yea Mom: I would be pissed at the guy for doing it while the obviously adult woman is walking next to someone my age . But I don't even really care if my mom has sex with this dude as long as I don't have to see anything. Wife: same as GF GF: If she was upset I'd: feel sad because she's upset (if she was upset at applejuice it'd make me feel sad. Doesn't mean I have a problem with apple juice)and try to say that it was just a compliment in a polite manner. If she doesn't care I don't care. This is just whistling, he wasn't asking her for sex, and no one plans to get a GF by whistling so I don't see the problem. Also , I agree with mobius on his first 2 paragraphs so..that's your response to the parts about over-reacting.

It depends on location, too. If I'm on a busy street it doesn't scare me. But if I'm by myself...yeah, I get really nervous. There are some bad parts of my city that sometimes I can't avoid; a little paranoia is healthy. I can't speak for the women who say that they feel bad about themselves if someone whistles at them or that it ruins their day, because that's not what it feels like to me. Not usually worth mentioning or remembering when it happens. It is entirely possible that those women have self-esteem issues--but honestly, the women who LIKE that kind of attention probably have even bigger self-esteem issues. But I do think that you're wrong about unsolicited comments on a woman's appearance not having ties to the same underlying cultural sexism that produces phenomena like women being paid less than men, women having to work much harder than men for the same amount of recognition, the thin-ideal that pervades women's (and men's! you think the models in Playboy are curvier, but really they just have unnaturally large breasts. Otherwise, they're just as under-weight as fashion models) magazines, the tendency to blame the victim in sexual assault cases, etc. My hope here really is that you'll consider the ways in which all these are connected rather than separate issues. And now, so that we can all laugh at ourselves and move on with our lives: http://xkcd.com/386/

letitbe - You being a nervous person when you're in bad parts of the city has not a single thing to do with whistling. If someone who looks scary comes up and says hello to you, you're going to be just as scared as if they'd whistled at you. Stop making up scenarios that aren't relevant and usually apply to both genders. A guy is going to be nervous too if he's in a bad area and someone bigger than him pays him attention. It doesn't matter what kind of attention that is. You've said cat calls are "degrading and threatening" and that you are "extremely insulted" and that it is only "slightly better than rape" and that it "is harmful" and that you "really hate it". Sure doesn't sound like the attitude of someone who barely lets if effect their day. Equal pay is irrelevant. It's a law in America that you can't discriminate pay rates based on gender, and I don't know of any other first world country where women are paid less than men and women get maternity leave. Cat calls most certainly do not have any effect on this, whatsoever, and to imply they do is pretty crazy. Female's own hang ups on their appearance are far more degrading than other people commenting on it. Most women wear make up to work every single day. How can you even begin to say a cat call in the street is more objectifying than the amount of time and effort a women puts into her own appearance as part of a routine. What does blaming the victim in sexual assault cases have to do with anything? When was the last time a court in your country found the victim guilty? The most screwed up policy with rape victims that I've heard out of your country, or any other first world country for that matter, came in fact from a woman with Sarah Palin having women pay for their own rape evidence kits after being raped. And while cat calls may possibly have some minutely small influence on the nature of men's magazines, but to imply cat calls effect the decisions of female editors of women's magazines is just stupid. You haven't given any actual reason as to why you feel those issues (mostly non-issues as I've explained) are connected. Just said "they are". Don't you think it makes more sense that the unrealistic standards set by women's magazines and the cosmetic industry are far more responsible for the self loathing and image obsession most women suffer from, that makes it hard for them to take or ignore a compliment as just that; an idle comment on the only thing they know about you at first glance. Being threatening is an entirely different matter, and if someone will be threatening towards you for ignoring them, they're just as likely to be threatening to anyone else over another imagined slight. It has nothing to do with the nature of cat calls, only the nature of the person, and isn't at all relevant, so stop bringing it up as though it is.