Did women used to enjoy being catcalled?

55. I was flattered as a teenager, as had low self-esteem and got no attention from boys I knew.

As a grown woman I loathed it, would take long walks to avoid building sites. Did not miss it at all when it stopped!

Honestly it was a mixture - the times I knew I looked good it felt nice (like a pp, I wasn't blessed with beauty) but the times men did it just because I was a woman in their vicinity, no.

I don't like it or hate it

But it's not about your looks is it? Not really. It's about men wanting to make women feel uncomfortable.

55. Hated it. I was and am quite plain and was then quite flat chested with short hair and it really brought home to me that it didn't matter who I was or how I presented, I was a young female and they could and would do what they liked to me. It's such a massive improvement in life that it doesn't happen any more.

Hated it, ignored where possible. Was worse when they walked past you and thought nothing of grabbing your arse. I had bruises almost constantly from being pinched or grabbed. And if you objected you got abuse and told you should be flattered.

Wolf whistling I wouldn't have minded. It was the barking like a dog at me, the need for total strangers to pass comment on my (lack of) looks that depressed me.

And that's the problem. I would probably have loved a wolf whistle or catcall, because it would have been better than what I got, from my point of view, but actually looking back on it, all this stems from the basic principle that it was acceptable/appropriate to comment at all.

Our bodies/faces were fair game. If somebody liked it, fair enough, but for those of us who didn't, or who weren't getting the more 'appreciative' version it was just shit we had to deal with.

I remember it as a schoolgirl, from much older men. I found it intimidating. It wasn’t something boys my age did, maybe then I’d have been flattered. When I encountered it was just scary because of the age and power imbalance and the awareness how quickly it could turn to insults for banter. You could be Wolf-whistled then joked about if you smiled like ‘only joking, munter!’. It had an undercurrent often

I am 54

i found it very intimidating at times as a young woman when gangs of men would be staring at you and whistling or yelling, couldn’t walk past a building site and if they were there for weeks i’d have to change my walk past

worse would be beeping their horn and yelling out of the car window

i appreciate that some women like it, but its not like these men would check first

Never really happened to me (mid fifties) apart from once or twice , and then felt secretly flattered. However, the builders in question did it in a fun, banter-ish way.

However, had the builders done it in a lewd, patronising way, I would have felt different. Mine was harmless fun, rather than sexual innuendo.

It didn't bother me at the time and I only ever responded with a cheery wave or smile. If it happened now, at 64, it would make my day.

I absolutely hated it. I think I am neurodiverse (not diagnosed) and I was extremely self conscious anyway. That OTT attention from men when I was a young teen was horrible. My DD is diagnosed autistic and has severe anxiety and it would destroy her honestly if it happened now, so I am so relieved times have changed.

I'm in my 60s now, but don’t remember it being that bad……certainly not worse than todays type of harassment.
I think that, as some others have said, there’s a far more sexually aggressive mode going on. But as the reference was to several decades ago our perceptions are different.

Hated it, ignored it and then they would often shout abuse. When I got a bit older if they were a safe distance away they might get a finger if they were abusive. Yes I knew some girls/ women who liked it but a lot didnt.

no i think it changed, society's attitude changed
feminism came and the rumour was that the wolf whistler would be slapped

I got wolf whistled at the other day on my way into my office by a bunch of workmen outside. I told my colleagues about it in a kind of "aren't men disgusting? What did they think I was going to do, shag them on the pavement?" type of way.

But my colleague who is the same age as me (mid 40s) said she would be delighted and it would put a skip in her stride for the rest of the day if she got wolf whistled. I was quite surprised to be honest - but I think maybe it's down the the actual person rather than their age?

This

I hated it. I used to go out of my to avoid building sites and anywhere groups of men might congregate. I don’t believe any women found it flattering.

I've heard a lot of folk slightly older than me (I'm late 40s) say they enjoyed it, however I've also heard loads say they hated it and how it made them uncomfortable. I've never enjoyed it and had to endure it in the 90s as a student/young woman. Some older folk (often women) have suggested I don't like men doing it because I never got whistled at, which I find quite an odd way for one woman to insult another.

I never got whistled at and was secretly jealous of those who did. I realise in hindsight I was lucky because it must have been quite intimidating when you're walking on your own.

I didn't like it but I wasn't outraged by it. Now I am. I'm more aware and I think it's creepy and revolting.
Having men wolf whistle at my daughters when they were teens and it upsetting them really bothered me.

I'm 65 and always, always hated it. I'd walk miles more than I had to just to avoid building sites or pubs with groups of men sat outside etc.

51. I never minded it. I was very shy so would have probably died but meh I'd hate it now though cos I'd assume they were taking the piss

Never been wolf whistled.

But I used to detest when men would say, "Smile it might never happen." What did they know what was going on for me? I did tell a few to get lost.

I remember during the era of The Yorkshire Ripper what the atmosphere was like. Then women and girls were told not to go out at night.
The Reclaim the Night marches started and I went along. Lots of men came out to shout at us, to frighten us to stay at home. Some shouted offensive sexual remarks and made threats.
However, I remember one group of men just constantly wolf whistling, which I suppose was just meant to demean us in another way.
Bloody hell, it's been a hard fight. And continues.