What You Looking At?

Years ago, back before Hollaback, a friend of mine was walking down the street and was being followed by a bunch of young boys who were catcalling her. She went into a corner store and the proprietor told her the boys were "good kids, from the neighborhood." Armed with this knowledge, she went back outside and confronted them, asking them if they had mothers and sisters and how they would feel if people talked to them the way the boys had been talking to her. All the boys turned sheepish and apologized to her, promising they wouldn't do it again. It would be nice to think that guys everywhere watch the above video Stop Looking At My Mom and learn the same lesson those boys did. Because catcalling isn't harmless, it is a means of objectifying women and shaming them for being in public and, sometimes, it is a precursor to sexual violence. Hopefully, more men will see that the woman on the street is someone's mom, sister, daughter, a person who does not deserve to be frightened and objectified simply because of their gender.