Men whistling loudly

[BlueSpotty]

Does anyone else get fed up with men that whistle loudly and tunelessly in public? It's so rude! And before anyone says that women do it too, I can't say I've ever noticed a woman doing it!

I was just browsing in a small shop. A man came in, whistling extremely loudly, which was annoying in itself but then he came and stood right next to me and started browsing there and whistling right in my ear!

After a couple of minutes I said, politely 'Can you stop whistling in my ear please?'. He looked so shocked, as if it was the most shocking thing anyone had ever said to him, then just said 'How bloody rude!' and gave me a filthy look.

I carried on looking for a few minutes and he did stop whistling but kept giving me dirty looks until I left the shop.

If you badge something as "what men do", how is a woman who does it supposed to feel?

The only people I've ever witnessed doing this have been women

Of course. I was wondering if you'd show up. You never fail!

It is my experience that it is not exclusively women who talk through films but women are more likely to do it than men. There is one particular woman in my group of friends whom no one will now go to the cinema with as it's so embarrassing.

People who chew loudly, however, can get in the sea.

Oh yes.

I whistle, but only at home, and it's usually because the music in my head is really loud.

If you badge something as "what men do", how is a woman who does it supposed to feel?

Well you'll have to ask the OP and the other posters who think men whistling are exercising power and staking out their territory. I have no idea.

Is that what you are doing? Maybe you are really a man (that is sarcasm btw)

Wow, not something I've ever really noticed as particularly irritating. Maybe the odd individual but would lump them in the other annoying habits of ... eating loudly, putting Christmas decorations up before 1st December.
Thought I would come up with a longer list but it appears that's all that really annoys me (other than my DH when he's a bit tipsy)

Not sure you really blame men for whistling loudly.

Whistling only irritates me if I’m trying to concentrate on something, otherwise I usually just tune it out.

Performance sneezing in the other hand drives me absolutely nuts. My husband used to do it all the time, and every time I’d ask him to stop he’d complain and say he couldn’t because it’s just how he naturally sneezes.

He did it around out cat once late last year. The poor thing is strung a bit tight at the moment because there’s another baby on the way and I swear he knows it (and hates it). So when my husband did one of his over exaggerated sneezes near him the poor thing freaked out and clawed my husband’s leg. Funny enough, he’s started sneezing more normally now.

As for bags on buses - I absolutely do this. I’ll move it if the bus gets full, but I’ll always try to catch the eye of another woman so she can take the seat before a guy can shoulder his way in. It’s got nothing to do with being rude, and everything to do with not wanting some pervy asshole with wandering hands sitting next to me, rubbing his leg up against mine for the entire trip. I know that NAMALT but it’s happened a few times to often. Even in the best case, it’s not a comfortable feeling being boxed into a window seat by a manspreader.

I also object to (usually) men assuming that I should be the one to move out of the way on a footpath. I got for walks a lot with my two year old, and if I’m pushing the buggy down one side of the path, with plenty of room for someone to walk past me, and they instead decide to walk straight into me, well they’re going to get run over aren’t they? I have noticed though that it is far more often men who refuse to step out of the way (I’ve never actually run anyone over with the buggy before mind, most hop out of the way and glower at me before it gets to that point).

Yes, I notice this in supermarkets a lot, it's usually a man of an older generation, as I've never heard woman of that generation do it. Last week I was following someone down the aisle and the tuneless whistle was driving me nuts, I had to start shopping from the other end.

I'm quite good at whistling and many years ago in my office job, one of the older managers wandered into my office looking quizzical asking 'who's whistling?'
'me'
'Women don't whistle' and walked out.

It does annoy me when it's tuneless.

I go to a number of craft fairs and there's one man ..an exhibitor as well as an exhibitionist...he's late sixties, stout of build and wears kilts , he's not Scottish (apologies for being ageist sizeist and any other ist but Im trying to paint a picture here ) and does what others here have described as Performance Whistling...he walks slowly and deliberately around the market before we open , whistling tunelessly , to mark his presence and stake his claim as a Man amongst Women ...he is also a really boring git .

My dad and my (6 year old) daughter both whistle when they are waiting around or walking somewhere. It’s pretty much something to pass the time and not trying to infringe on someone’s space or express dominance. And I have to say I’m proud my daughter can whistle and is comfortable enough in herself to do it. Oh and I do it sometimes too (I’m a woman), AND I can whistle loudly with my fingers - it’s an incredibly useful skill that means my children know to stop and come back to me rather than me shouting their names. It’s just whistling, it’s not always male dominance.

Apropos of nothing in particular, I remember as a child my grandmother admonishing me for whistling with this saying "A whistling woman and a cackling hen are worse than the devil and all his men" 😳

My grandmother used to whistle, it was quite spectacular.
My grandad whistled too, it was quite impressive too.
My mum had tinnitus and whistling irritated her no end.

Horses for courses. Imo

I'ma regular on feminism chat and I usually nod along and say to myself 'yes, I've noticed that too' but I actually can't in this case. I've never noticed this at all. I did go to school with someone who was constantly whistling, even in class, and was very clear about it being a way of owning the space and disrupting the class, but it was a girl. And weirdly, she was a very high achieving competitive girl, not the stereotypical disruptive pupil. I never could work her out.

My pet hate is people listening to music without headphones.

Utterly LOATHE whistling. Always have. Really sets my teeth on edge. My dad used to do and it was bloody embarrassing back then. Walking round a shop, everyone browsing quietly and him, and him whistling something - not even a fucking tune, just noise!

It's always men. Always. It's a way of announcing their presence and drawing attention to themselves.

It's always men. Always

Apart from when it's women, you mean. There are even some on this very thread.

I should have RTFT Clearly women whistle too but in my experience, it's always men and I HATE IT. And one day I'm going to snap and one of those tuneless whistling shits is going to get hurt. By me and my fists. feeling particularly violent around this issue

I was feeling to triggered to read the full thread, clearly

Anyway, it should be banned. And humming tunelessly, but mainly whistling.

Also tilting to one side. Fucking ridiculous.

My son whistles when he's happy. He isn't even aware of it. It is not done to offend anyone. Get over it, there are more important things in life.
It's annoying, but so are loud conversation on public transport, too much perfume, folk who crack their knuckles, the list is long.

Thus thread triggered a happy memory if my Grandpa. He passed away when I was a child over 40 years ago and was a veteran of WW2. The one thing he used to say that has always stuck in my mind is, 'gentlemen don't whistle'.

It's always men leisurely going round the shops, whistling some cringey tune. They normally try and catch your eye, as they're waiting for you to nod and smile approvingly. I always studiously ignore

Gentlemen don’t whistle. What a load of tosh.

Agreed - my dad whistled, now passed. A gentle man and much missed

I’m mildly autistic and have severe PTSD and I can’t stand people whistling. I’m hyper-vigilant so any loud noises put me on edge, and most noises make me feel overwhelmed. It doesn’t even have to be noise, actually, if someone is shaking their foot in my field of vision I can’t concentrate and get irritated. It’s nobody’s fault and people aren’t doing it deliberately or even consciously - I shake my foot sometimes - that’s just the way I am.

I was brought up to make as little noise and take up as little space as possible. I sneeze silently, try to breathe quietly when I’m exercising, have a very quiet voice and a pathological fear of hearing my own singing voice, my phone is always on silent, I’m always trying to make myself small and silent. I don’t think whistling is a deliberate act of passive-aggression but it does seem to be an expression of the reverse of believing that any noise you make will irritate people and that you shouldn’t take up physical and aural space, which is my attitude. It’s not fun or healthy, but there it is.

About sneezing, sneezing is a physiological response to a stimulus which tells you that you need forcibly to expel something which is irritating your nasal passages, so suppressed sneezes are effectively pointless and increase pressure inside your body. You don’t have to voice sneezing, though. Anyone who shouts when they sneeze or says “achoo!” doesn’t actually need to. It’s like grunting at the gym (which in my experience is entirely men doing it and is very annoying to the women).

I whistle classical tunes on the way to work. I’m not a man lol 😂

I don’t think we should categorise it as a male thing. If someone asked me not to I would stop whistling in their presence but I’d expect them to ask politely as whistling is a cheery disposition mode.