Over 3/4 of over 50s think catcalling is a compliment

[treaclesoda]

A man on Radio Five Live has just said that.

Can that be true?

I've never met a woman who thought it was a compliment, everyone I know finds it on a scale of irritating to intimidating and everything in between.

I’m sure sometimes it could be counted as a compliment - maybe in the olden days it was, but now days it’s more likely to be “oi nice tits” and then when you ignore, it becomes “you fucking slut, think you’re too good for me” etc etc.

I know my dad will whistle at my mum in a semi ironic way (they are both 73) when she’s dressed up, and maybe that’s the kind of thing people like Joanna Lumley are confusing street harassment with

54 here,never seen it as a compliment.

Once in a blue moon i still get honked at (50 in a few months). It always feels aggressive and makes me jump out of my skin. It makes me upset and intimidated and i think it's meant to. I don't understand why anyone would find it complimentary although i accept that some do. Possibly those polled had a different idea of what catcalling was? 'Hello gorgeous give us a smile' from across the street i still really dislike but it's less aggressive than 'nice TITS' shouted into my ear from a van while im on my bike at the red light.

Agree. You have to think “what is the man’s motivation here” - and pretty much all the time that a man is yelling “compliments” at you in the street it’s to either intimidate you or to look like a lad in front of his mates. It’s not to express a genuine desire to compliment your beauty, because if it was, they would like, talk to you in a normal way.

“So, how did you two meet?”
“Oh he screamed that I should sit on his face as I jogged past and so I realised that was something I did want to do and we’ve just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary”

Said nobody ever.