Did women used to enjoy being catcalled?

It depended. I'm 62 and when a whole building site/truckload of men whistled and hollered it was scary and meaningless. It was a display of machismo that was intended to impress their mates and actually nothing to do with me.

OTOH there were some occasions when just one man whistled or made a comment that really flattered me and made me feel good. In fact quite recently I stopped at a railway station to take a BeReal selfie (a SM app that requires you to take an authentic unfiltered selfie within 120 seconds of an alert. That selfie is then shared with selected contacts - it's the only way I ever know where adult DC are!). After taking it a passing station worker, a similar age to me, winked at me and said "looking good'. It seemed very sincere and made me smile but my milennial daughter was outraged when I told her about it.

61 hated it, turned me into a feminist who had to fight a fear of walking past groups of men, or .an in vans. Never flattering, always intimidating. Worst thing I saw was about 5 years ago when I was walking to station at 6.30 on a summer morning. Young woman runner on other side of road heading in same direction as me. Group of men coming towards us. They started making barking noises at her. I was angry enough to confront them and ask how they'd feel if someone did that to their wife or sister. They called me fucking bitch.

Actually, I wouldn't even need to tell them to fuck off to get the frigid bitch type comments, ignoring them would result in this too.

55. I was a young lesbian. Hated it and told men to fuck off, so of course got all the frigid / stuck up bitch / wouldn't fuck you anyway type comments. I sometimes wonder whether it was worse for many lesbians as we would often be out in all female couples or groups so not seen as a property of another man which would put the catcallers off.

47. I felt flattered but it didn't happen very often!

DH was speaking to his Nan today and she said that vein wolf whistled was a compliment when she was young. She is nearly 90 but still all there, in fact they chat on face time every week!

I'm 64 and another one who was an early developer so it started about 11 years old for me. I was horribly embarrassed because I hadn't come to terms with my changing body myself and having strange old men notice me was something I didn't know how to handle - it's a "social" situation that you don't get trained for. I just wanted to shrink back to being kid-sized again.

I remember about age 15 walking down a street wearing a T-shirt and dungarees, and two men appeared on either side of me. One pointed at my boob on his side and said, "Is that real?". What the fuck is a young girl supposed to say to that? I just silently turned and crossed the road, to their hysterical amusement.

Luckily I developed a "face", and the catcalling became "Cheer up love, it might never happen" to which a "fuck off" or two fingers seemed the best response.

Was so glad to reach the age of invisibility! So no, I never once took these attentions as a compliment, more of an unwelcome judgement from men with no right to do so.

Plus, "Benny Hill", which was a mainstream comedy, and which went out at about 8pm.

51 made me feel embarrassed and awkward.

That was quite a pleasant compliment because it was about what I was doing, posture and achievement; I was feeling strong

A few years ago a bloke stopped me to say how cool i looked in my sunglasses 😀

i do look very cool in sunglasses

I'm 57 and it absolutely never bothered me back in the day. As others have said it never ever felt predatory or threatening.

Op, might be worth watching the following programmes ( if you can )
First episode of ' ashes to ashes ' with Phillip Glenister
An old film ' Rita Sue and Bob too' set up north in the 1970s.
Maybe an old carry on film.
It'll give you a 'snap shot ' at least of how women were regarded and treated at times back then.

DM in her 80s thought it was genuinely compliementary in her 60s/ 70s early years. Early adulthood had a lot of social value and expectation to marry and start a family young. Working beyond that stage was about necessity and not a great reflection of social status.

DM holds a lot of internalised misogeny.
She's very critical over superficial beauty and what's "ladylike".

I'm in my 40s and haven't experienced much cat calling etc. I have a small build that isn't busty, don't wear make-up day to day and generally have quite a girly look rather than womanly (increasingly at a distance 😂). Bustier, blonder peers have experienced far more than me.
I haven't noticed becoming more invisible because I was never particularly "seen". Not just in a male gaze way, but generally- I used to have to defend my place in queues a lot. In some ways I am seen more as I mature.

Some months ago I was running speed intervals and got a comment along the lines of "looking strong" from an older man. That was quite a pleasant compliment because it was about what I was doing, posture and achievement; I was feeling strong. It felt it was about the running rather than being objectified.

Fortunately my running doesn't tend to attract many drive-by dickhead comments. So many women are put off running and public exercise to their detriment by that kind of oik.

I used to enjoy the ego boost. It probably only really happened when I was a naughty teenager which meant the age gap between myself and the cat callers was quite ick if you think about it!

One of the most batshit comments on this thread. And there have been a few from the posters who enjoy this shit!

I hated it. It started when I was nine years old. Not just catcalls, comments, lewd gestures and wolf-whistles but having my breasts, vulva and bottom groped in the street/playground/pubs etc. witnessing indecent exposure, sometimes whist in school uniform. Men and boys of all ages, including teachers and employers.

Thank you.
Very interesting thread.

You are not being unreasonable is ahead. Roughly 3:2 in favour.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a sudden surge in YABU now!

Could anyone who has voted say how the voting is going so far?
I haven't voted as per OPs request for only women 55+ to vote, but I'd like to know.

Hated it. Never knew how to respond. If I smiled it could invite further unwanted comments and if I ignored it,it led to comments that I was miserable . It was 1960s/ early 1970s .

Depends.

Just a whistle or a horn beeped - I liked it. I too had low self esteem and a diet of magazines / society telling me my role was to look pretty for the male gaze.
So I thought I was getting there.

If comments were verbal, no idea what to say, head down and dreaded any nasty comment because I wasn't grateful enough.

YANBU. I'm 63 now and I agree with previous posters - the 70's were horrible for this. In fact, I remember getting catcalled before my 10th birthday as I started to develop.
Most of the men who did it were leering, entitled and offensive.

This may sound controversial, but after the necessary backlash against this behaviour, some men have told me they are now frightened to innocently flirt with someone they are interested in, for fear of coming over as a letch or pervert.
Its sad to think some relationships have never got off the ground through this.

And yet the world still turns and relationships flourish. Flirting still goes on, the world over.

If these inadequate men need cat-calling and whistling at women to 'get one' then they don't deserve one at all. It's not at all sad to think of those 'left by the wayside'.

The 1960s/70s are worlds away and mostly for the better. I had the usual run of whistling, which didn’t bother me and groping, lewd comments, which did.

This may sound controversial, but after the necessary backlash against this behaviour, some men have told me they are now frightened to innocently flirt with someone they are interested in, for fear of coming over as a letch or pervert.
Its sad to think some relationships have never got off the ground through this.

I'm 43. I used to take it as a compliment but I had very low self esteem. What made me open my eyes was being cat called by drunk men on my way home from work after pub closing. Rather then just whistle and make comments they would progress onto threatening to rape me for not replying to them, or whatever it was they thought I should be doing in return. That was really intimidating.