To think that wolf whistling wasn't such a bad thing?

[NovemberMorn]

Joanna Lumley has just given an interview in which she says..."I never minded wolf whistling, I always thought it was tremendous".

She also said... "I think we were a little bit tougher then. Somebody put their hand on your leg, you didn’t feel affronted and report it. You’d give them a slap.”

Do you think she is right?

YABU. Men need to stop objectifying women. Neither a wolf whistle nor an unwanted leg touch is OK.

No I do not

No, I detested it.

Oh this old bollocks again, 'the world was much better when sexual harassment was acceptable'.

Nope. Builders on building sites used to wolf whistle at school girls on their way to school. How on earth would that be OK?

I disagree that "wolf whistling wasn't such a bad thing". It was part of the atmosphere of possession and entitlement that afflicted women who walked down any street. It was usually intended to wrongfoot and embarrass young women, not as a compliment

BUT I still reeeaaallly wish I could wolf whistle. I tried to learn , in my youth, but couldn't get hold of the knack. It seemed to be something - like cycling without holding the handlebars - that required testicles.

Tempted to learn the knack now and set up empowering women-only classes in wolf whistling while hands-free cycling.

Quite. I loved being groped, having my bum pinched, being sexually harassed in the street and objectified. Life was so much better when perverts were making derogatory comments on my appearance.

I don't agree with her, but then, I'm not a second rate actress and not dependent on male approval either professionally or personally.

I agree with Joanna Lumley. Women learnt how to handle themselves in a non threatening way. I found it flattering 45 years ago. After two whistles it turned into a cheery wave and a “have a good day darlin”.

This sort of thing just encourages dickheads to think it's acceptable.

Having thenickname "Tits" was definitely not one of thong that put me off pursuing engineering after University...

Hated it as a teenager/young woman. How on earth is it flattering?

No she isn’t right as far as I’m concerned. I would have considered myself tough in every other way but I use to hate having to walk past a building site or workmen in the street because of the wolf whistling and sexist banter that went with it.

Is JL saying a man should be entitled to slap her then if she fondled their leg? No thought not.

Wolf whistling, unwanted leg touching and slapping are all probably best left in the past now, Joanna. I’d like to think we’ve moved on.

I disagree entirely. I sprouted boobs when I was eleven, and I was ill prepared for the constant cat calling from men and boys, out car windows, from the other side of the street, from the same side of the bloody street, from boys and also from men old enough to be my fucking grandfather! And if I dared complain about it at home, I should 'not take it so seriously', it was 'harmless', I must 'learn to take a compliment', not 'be so militant'.

Fuck off.

And if I'd given a slap when someone put hands on me, I'd have been given a thump right fucking back. And when I got home, my mother would have given me a slap. Quite possibly followed up by a thump from my father. If he could catch me. Apparently I could run surprisingly fast.

Some of us didn't have the upper class life Ms Lumley did, and protections.

Absolutely not, especially given most of it is directed at teens and young women - not older women in the public eye who might be more confident. If JL is really stupid enough to think it’s an expression of genuine appreciation rather than deliberate humiliation and intimidation (or to impress other male idiots) then she’s very naive. I was first wolf whistled at by a leering man in a white van who then shouted “show us your tits love” when I was wearing a primary school uniform age 10, walking home from school alone - how on earth is that ok?!

I had an older male in a position of trust constantly try and touch my leg, play with my hair etc when I was 17 and I didn’t know what on earth to do to stop him. He knew damn well that it was unwelcome and he was clearly enjoying the power play. It really wasn’t because he was just appreciating my beauty and sparkling personality. Fortunately my Dad got wind of it and that man was removed from my life. Now in my mid forties I’d be far more confident to tell him to get lost (and I’d also report him to his governing body) but funnily enough men don’t try it now.

Its gross and JL shouldn’t be given airtime to basically advocate for sexual harassment because she personally found it flattering.

The thing is men don't know where to draw the line.

And over time they've become so porn sick that they don't care where the line is either.

Maybe 50 years ago some women might take a whistle as a compliment. Today it would be an indication a bloke has bad intentions and no boundaries.

I agree with you ...and Joanna too.
A wolf whistle was usually meant as a compliment.
A compliment on how I looked never offended me (it still doesn't) the 'Get your tits out luv', usually shouted down by a fat facial builders crack sort, was certainly not acceptable, and tbh, even back in the day, I don't think I was ever subjected to that.

It's not really about the wolf-whistling, though. It's great for Joanna Lumley that she thought it was wonderful. Fucking shite if you didn't think it was wonderful but knew there wasn't much you could do to stop it.

I wouldn't have minded wolf-whistling. But that's because what I got was being barked at like dogs and hearing comments like 'nice legs, shame about the face' and 'should've been born a man'. Now I suspect Joanna Lumley might say that wasn't very nice. But it's not separate from the wolf-whistle in that it all stems from the same idea. That because I am a woman, my body is fair game for judgement from random men.

It's not about whether some women liked it or not. It's the fact that it didn't make a damn difference what we thought about it. It's the fact that our preferences in the matter were so utterly irrelevant.

Sorry, it was meant to be constant cat calling and wolf whistling.

Personally I wasn't so desperate for unwanted comments and 'validation' of my personal appearance to take those as such.

It's all part of JL's shtick, isn't it? She is the elegant self-possessed woman whose beauty reduces men to vassals, so that she can gracefully indulge their gibbering without losing her cool control of them. That's essentially a man's fantasy, though. Not a woman's.

I don't blame her for playing out her professional persona. It's just important that no-one should take what she says for reality.

I know where JL is coming from, because I am older and remember when women just accepted sexual harassment as part and parcel of every day life. It wasn’t seen as a big deal.
Thankfully the world has changed. We are more educated and more aware. Women and girls know now that this behaviour is not ok and does not have to be accepted wordlessly.
it is a shame that JL hasn’t moved on with the rest of the world.

It never bothered me.

I went to ‘middle school’ aged 10-14. I used to get wolf whistled at all the time walking to/from school. Also had things shouted at me like ‘give us a smile gorgeous’. Creepy, not flattering.
Actually I think if you find leery men whistling at you flattering, when let’s face it they did it to most women walking past, I think you have self esteem issues.

Odd though, when back in the day when men felt free enough to wolf whistle or compliment a woman on how she looked, porn was certainly not the problem it is today.
I know it's far more available now, but if a man was that way inclined, he could always get hold of it.