“Men love women, and if some men think they need to whistle at women, they just go and do it.”
When I read “men love women” in this sort of context, I get the heebie-jeebies because it’s not “men love women because women are people and men are people and so like is attracted to like” that is being said here. What is being said is, “Men like women like men like cars — they’re really cool toys to play with.” /shudder/ And the second part? That is perhaps the best example of privilege I’ve ever read — if they want to, they just do because they can and it’s just a girl after all, what’s she gonna do?
All around creepy. And, actually, that it isn’t about the women but about men showing off for other men actually almost makes it worse — that I and the rest of this half of humanity feel like we’re running a gauntlet of abuse just to walk down a street, not because we have the audacity to be attractive, but because one guy wants to metaphorically wave his penis at another…yeah, that makes it worse.
— Christina, commenting on “Wise Guys: Why Do Men Cat Call?”