Catcalling is not OK: Your Say

Letter to the editor:

Aside from his disingenuous multiculturalist argument and hypocritical reference to Emmett Till to "score cheap points," Glenn Harlan Reynolds asks all the wrong questions about catcalling. Questions such as "Are women so delicate?" exacerbate the issue by putting the problem back on women. They distract from the real question: Why is it OK for men to behave this way ("Catcalling a two-way street: Column")?

Reynolds implies women are trying to have it both ways by asking to participate freely and fully as equals in the public and professional spheres, and then whining when men talk to us in those spheres. The problem is that women are not free to participate as equals in the public sphere because we're still reduced to sexual objects who exist for the pleasure of men. I am not in favor of making street harassment illegal. I'm in favor of teaching men that it is not acceptable to ask strangers who are women to perform on command ("Smile more!"). I'm in favor of teaching men what an appropriate compliment is, and how and when to deliver it.

Katherine Reed; College Station, Texas

Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

Catcalling is freedom of speech. Women better get used to it when they live in a free country.

— Bob Kahn

Calling this behavior rude or disrespectful is itself a culturally learned behavior. It's rude to some women because people in some cultures were taught to think it rude. In other cultures, it's not.

— Tim Maguire

The comments are aggressive. Please don't act naive and say catcalling is just an example of cultural differences.

— Paige Catherine Kane