Looking at women

The title asserts that the article is directed to every woman. The author is urging women to get over the uncomfortable feeling that relates to catcalls. If the author is okay with the catcalls, it is inappropriate to tell other women to welcome them since there are instances when the consequences are ugly. It is apparent that many women are not comfortable with this behavior that the author seem to support strongly. Saunders describes it as a “force-field of sex” (Saunders 82).

The viewpoint of the writer is respected, but it is inappropriate for her to speak to all the women. Whereas a woman who wrote down the article seems to enjoy the catcalls, I feel that this behavior should not be tolerated as it is disrespectful to the females. To many women, catcalls are a form of sexual harassment from their male counterparts. There are better ways to communicate a compliment to a woman other than catcall phrases that may turn out to be derogatory at the extreme situations. The author uses a number of first pronoun “I” to show that she is writing from her personal experience. Being a human being with an array of liberties, she is free to exercise her freedom of expression (Lewak).

Enjoying the catcalls from men indeed makes women become traitors to their gender. This is because the behavior of catcalling women makes them to be perceived as sexual objects by the society, which puts them at a potentially risky position of abuse. The behavior justifies the act of men in objectifying women, whereas other women, such as the writer of this article, turn themselves into objects since they feel they have to. This is exceptionally sad and ought to change. If women are not comfortable for being treated as sex objects by strange men, it is important for everyone to take this standpoint into consideration (Saunders 86).

The encounters that Saunders had as a child, teenager, and finally as a father makes him to ask the question how a man ought to look at a woman., a question that he refers to as ‘peculiar’ and ‘neurotic’. It is not all women who wear in a particular manner so as to draw the attention of the men. Some women dress in what they feel comfortable in. Therefore, it is not logical for the males to think that women dress so as to draw their attention and invite the catcalls. There are women who as well wear in a certain manner so as to keep themselves up-to-date with the latest fashion. It would be tolerable if the author had addressed men urging them to conduct themselves like rational and intelligent, mature people.

This behavior of catcalling women makes them to be perceived as sexual objects by the society, which puts them at a potentially risky position of abuse. The behavior justifies the act of men in objectifying women, whereas other women, such as the writer of this article, turn themselves into objects since they feel they have to. This is exceptionally sad and ought to change. If women are not comfortable for being treated as sex objects by strange men, it is important for everyone to take this standpoint into consideration.  The author however likes the audacity of men at the construction site, whom she compares to the college boys who cannot express themselves in a straightforward manner.

The author seems to tell people that it is fine to harass women sexually by means of the catcalls. She seems to enjoy the catcall that she receives from men at the construction site. According to her, the catcalls perfectly work on her ego, and she still recalls her first catcall as an intern at MTV. Whereas compliments are good, catcalls from strangers are not. There is a difference between catcalls and compliments. Some common complimenting phrases include “You look good,” “That dress is great” et cetera. Conversely, catcall phrases may include examples such as “You are sexy”. There are instances when the catcalls towards some women have turned out to the use of derogatory remarks such as being referred to as bitch or whore, merely for not appreciating a catcall. It is not logical to compare negative attention to women from their male counterparts with compliments. Women should not encourage such type of men to violate them with the so-called catcalls.