MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - Ok, ok. Fine. I'll chime in.

Here's my take on the situation.

1. In a big city, multiple cultures and classes co-exist and mingle on the streets as they move about the city. As a result... people with "class" have to co-exist with people who don't. People who lack "class" will catcall and whistle... as if that has ever picked up a classy woman. "Classy" people find it creepy, because how can you tell a harmless cat-caller from a creep who'll start... I dunno... following you for five minutes.

2. "Classless" woman may be flattered by such attention. I imagine catcalls must occasionally score some digits, or else why is this practice so prevalent. But as a rule, a "classy" woman is threatened by aggressive interaction.

3. Yes, even saying hello in a big city is aggressive. As a rule, while milling around the streets of a city, you don't even make eye contact with strangers, let alone randomly holler out salutations. That breaks the anonymous "personal space" people respect while in crowds. In a small town, this same behavior would be considered rude... you should say hello to people you pass... because you may only pass a few now and then... and odds are they are friends of your cousin... and you aren't passing hoards of anonymous people every second. Criminals take advantage of this social normal all the time... and often begin the mugging with some friendly banter to get close into your personal space... so ANY random stranger saying hello to me in a big city automatically puts me into a defensive mindset... as a woman, that's even more scary.

3. Is it racist that every response was a non-white? If the video edited out any whites catcalling her, then yes, there would be a racial bias... but to my knowledge there wasn't a selection bias... he included every audible response she generated. If every audible response was included in the video (which is my current understanding) then it is what it is, and not racist, but instead is a snapshot of reality. Our PC culture is so race-sensitive, we can't even call it like it is. Even police reports leave out race anymore... which is PC to the point of being stupid. I've heard reports read like "He was a male, about 6'4" wearing a grey shirt and blue jeans." Did he have any skin or hair? You can change your shirt... but not your skin. Which is more important to find the guy?

That all being said, here's a story for your listening pleasure.

Before Gatinha and I were married, when we were just dating... she used to have to walk to work through a suburban (note: not a big city) area everyday... and everyday the construction workers on a new house would catcall and holler out at her... which scared her since it was her daily route. So me, being the man, offered to walk her to work one day... and sure enough... even with a male escort, they were hollering out at her... So I walk up to the construction site with the intent of confronting the guy and point out what a classless boob he was being. What I didn't plan (and I don't know why I didn't see it coming) was that I wouldn't be talking to just one Joe, but the whole crew wanted to hear what wisdom I wished to impart. Something about talking to a mob holding hammers makes a guy real humble and polite. Needless to say, the best solution was for her to walk the long way around to work every day after that.