Whistle Blower
Last week I was walking to collect my son from a school disco, it was around dusk and I was on my own. I crossed the street at the zebra crossing only to be wolf whistled at twice by a complete stranger and this started me thinking. Is it still acceptable in modern day society for a man to voice his opinion of a woman through the very public display of a wolf whistle? Didn't the age of walking past a building site and being harassed by a group of builders die out some time ago? But is this chauvinistic and sexist display of appreciation as simple as that? Is it as widely disapproved of by the modern day woman as we think? Honestly, I don't believe that it is.
A lone female walking down the road set set upon by voracious vocal displays of "appreciation" in the form of wolf whistling, howling or shouting from a nearby group of men is deemed as inappropriate and rightly so. For the woman in question it can be both intimidating and threatening. If this performance occurs regularly by the same group of individuals then it could and should fall into the category of harassment and consequently it may have a very negative impact upon the victim whether he or they intended to or not. These seemingly throwaway comments or whistles are classed as degrading and sexist and women neither appreciate or desire it...or do they?
For the majority of women I believe that this is true and any man found to be harassing a woman inappropriately should be reported and dealt with accordingly. However I do believe that there are women who will openly admit not to minding about the odd whistle and even quite enjoy it! They see it as harmless fun and sometimes even a little confidence boost. Many women can smile it away and have the confidence to carry on with their day. I must admit that whilst the feminist in me disapproves of such behaviour, a part of me doesn't really mind and in fact when the day comes that it all stops I may even be a little disappointed!
The Curious Wolf....I mean Fox!