# Women (over)react to catcalling **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 20, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120 "2009-08-20T20:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 36
**Author:** ![raindrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@raindrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindrop)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/701 "2009-09-03T04:28:29Z")
**Yeticus Rex** @ #698, that’s awesome. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/702 "2009-09-03T04:35:20Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > I don’t know, do you consider it sexism to call another woman [a whore](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11491154&postcount=2246) [multiple times](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11481836&postcount=2236) (these links don’t cover all the instances, but are just a sampling), and a [retarded whore](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11438188&postcount=2152) at that, as well as [a slut](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11438739&postcount=2159) [simply because you dislike her and disagree with her](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11438545&postcount=2155)? I do. I despise curlcoat every bit as much as you do, but you’ve been crying sexism this entire thread, yet engaging in what I consider to be sexist behavior against another woman in another thread because she pissed you off. Thought it deserved a mention, for context, you know. I hate it when men do this, call women sluts and whores as a way of shaming them or shutting them up in an argument. I guess some women aren’t above this tactic either, and it’s harassment too. It’s just not catcalling, so it’s OK with Shot From Guns. Wait, I missed most of that thread. Why are people calling **curlcoat** a parasitic whore? ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/703 "2009-09-03T04:50:21Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Wait, I missed most of that thread. Why are people calling **curlcoat** a parasitic whore? Because she’s on SSDI and her husband makes six figures. But Shot From Guns stated that she’s just calling curlcoat a slut and a whore because she doesn’t like her. Nice, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/704 "2009-09-03T04:56:50Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Because she’s on SSDI and her husband makes six figures. But Shot From Guns stated that she’s just calling curlcoat a slut and a whore because she doesn’t like her. Nice, eh? Those quotes are incredibly petty and nasty. God. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/705 "2009-09-03T05:06:23Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Those quotes are incredibly petty and nasty. God. You know, curlcoat would try the patience of a saint, but the insults that Shot From Guns used over and over (the ones I quoted were not all of them) were all very specifically anti-woman slurs. To me, calling a woman a slut and a whore because you don’t like her politics, or because you disagree with her about UHC, is pretty damn sexist, abusive language to use. It goes beyond “STFU you goddamn moron” and becomes something else. Having read that thread, then looked at her stance in this thread, the hypocrisy was a bit much. I’ll be interested to hear how she reconciles the two. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/706 "2009-09-03T14:53:39Z")
This thread is about _men_ abusing women, though. For the record, I totally agree that **STG** went way over the top on **curlcoat**. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/707 "2009-09-03T14:59:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > This thread is about _men_ abusing women, though. And it’s so great for your credibility when you’re censuring men at great length for their sexist expressions but then feeling free to use sexist language yourself when it suits you. Everyone loves a double standard, right? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/708 "2009-09-03T15:03:20Z")
Wait. So is curlcoat actually a whore or not? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/709 "2009-09-03T15:04:29Z")
> [@raindrop](#): > > **Yeticus Rex** @ #698, that’s awesome. Thanks. 🙂 Absolutely. Everything I wanted to say, but said far better than I could. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/710 "2009-09-03T15:04:30Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > And it’s so great for your credibility when you’re censuring men at great length for their sexist expressions but then feeling free to use sexist language yourself when it suits you. Everyone loves a double standard, right? There are double standards, and there are double standards. I don’t begrudge black people the use of _nigger_. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/711 "2009-09-03T15:21:16Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > There are double standards, and there are double standards. I don’t begrudge black people the use of _nigger_. 'preciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/712 "2009-09-03T15:24:50Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Wait. So is curlcoat actually a whore or not? She’s a lot of things, but that’s one thing I’m pretty sure she ain’t. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > There are double standards, and there are double standards. I don’t begrudge black people the use of _nigger_. What does that have to do with anything? Calling a woman a whore for the sole purpose of degrading her and belittling her because you disagree with her opinion on UHC is not equivalent to the colloquial use of the word “nigger” between black people. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/713 "2009-09-03T15:34:49Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > What does that have to do with anything? Calling a woman a whore for the sole purpose of degrading her and belittling her because you disagree with her opinion on UHC is not equivalent to the colloquial use of the word “nigger” between black people. Well, technically **StG** was calling **curlcoat** a whore because she actually thinks she is, in some sense, a whore. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/714 "2009-09-03T15:36:43Z")
Pay attention, **Rubystreak** –I called \*\*curlcoat \*\*a slut and a whore to hyperbolically mock her for being supported by her well-paid husband and taking SSDI while she bemoans how lazy poor people on welfare are. Because that’s what prostitutes do: they have sexual intercourse in exchange for money, goods, or services. You’re seriously **so desperate** to make ad hominem attacks, instead of addressing my arguments, that you’ll go take out-of-context things I’ve said **in the Pit**? I’m sure there are much better uses of your time. ETA: Whoops, missed the page change. I insulted curlcoat repeatedly in an over-the-top fashion \*\*in the Pit \*\*because I think she’s a disgusting excuse for a human being. As explained above, and in the thread if you actually read it instead of just doing desperate searches for anything I’ve posted, the whore/slut/etc. has to do with her actual positions. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/715 "2009-09-03T15:40:20Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Pay attention, **Rubystreak** –I called \*\*curlcoat \*\*a slut and a whore to hyperbolically mock her for being supported by her well-paid husband and taking SSDI while she bemoans how lazy poor people on welfare are. You couldn’t construct an argument without resorting to crude language? ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/716 "2009-09-03T15:45:30Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, technically **StG** was calling **curlcoat** a whore because she actually thinks she is, in some sense, a whore. Really? I think that’s a very thin pretext for calling someone a slut or a whore nine times in one thread, because [by her own admission,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11438545&postcount=2155) she’s doing it because she enjoys it, not because she really thinks there’s any validity to it. I find it rather invasively personal, to try to dismiss the basis of another person’s marriage and her sexual integrity, because you disagree about public policy. There are a lot of ways to insult someone, but she chose this particular way, which is very female-specific and meant to degrade. I also strongly doubt if she’d used such sexually loaded language against a man… though here, when she’s trying to insult magellan01, she decides to [call his mother a “syphilis-ridden whore.”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11361593&postcount=1135) Again, using sexually loaded language, attacking a man’s mother’s sexual integrity as a way to hurt him. This, from someone who is soooo against sexism when it’s directed at her on the street in the form of catcalls. If you don’t find that hypocritical, or your own defense of her disingenuous, then I guess that’s your prerogative. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/717 "2009-09-03T15:47:29Z")
It definitely reads like it’s a kid who’s just discovered profanity and is trying to find the easiest way to hurt or piss someone off. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/718 "2009-09-03T15:49:26Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, technically **StG** was calling **curlcoat** a whore because she actually thinks she is, in some sense, a whore. Ahh, but come on, now. It seems to me that calling a woman a whore for that kind of figurative impact is a weaponization of “whore” in exactly the way that the colloquial use of nigger isn’t. The one is language crafted so to have maximum destructive force, and the other is language being used in a way to rob it of its power as a weapon. I doubt that you’d really be willing to write off the use of nigger in the original dehumanizing sense (rather than the sort of reclaimed version of the word) just because it was a black person using it against another black person. **Shot From Guns** , you called her a lot of things in that thread, and almost all of them revolved around her role as a physical object. You conjured the kinds of images of a fat disgusting parasite that one might ordinarily expect to arise from the anger of somebody with serious problems with women. Which, I’m sure you can imagine, is a little uncomfortable to read, and which isn’t justified any more by the fact that you think those labels apply to **curlcoat** than it would be justified if, say, I decided they applied to you. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/719 "2009-09-03T15:51:39Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Pay attention, **Rubystreak** –I called \*\*curlcoat \*\*a slut and a whore to hyperbolically mock her for being supported by her well-paid husband and taking SSDI while she bemoans how lazy poor people on welfare are. Oh, believe me, I’m paying attention, and I think your reasons for calling her a whore and a slut are utter bullshit, a thin pretext to default to your preferred mode of insult. You admitted as much, so trying to claim that you really, truly think she’s an actual whore are weak. > [@](#): > > Because that’s what prostitutes do: they have sexual intercourse in exchange for money, goods, or services. Oh, for fuck’s sake, she was working when she married him and subsequently became disabled. When one partner in a marriage gets sick or hurt and is supported by the other partner who loves them, that does not make them a whore, and you bloody well know it. This is a disingenuous excuse for your really vile attacks on someone whose ideology you dislike. > [@](#): > > You’re seriously **so desperate** to make ad hominem attacks, instead of addressing my arguments, that you’ll go take out-of-context things I’ve said **in the Pit**? I’m sure there are much better uses of your time. You’re accusing ME of ad hominem attacks? Wow, that’s rich, considering that I posted multiple examples of your own virulent ad hominem style of debate. This isn’t ad hominem: this is calling you out on your hypocrisy. Look up ad hominem in the dictionary if you’re not sure what it means. I’m not attacking you, I’m attacking your double standard on sexism. Big difference. Out of context? I posted links to your entire posts, and there’s really nothing in the context that justifies calling someone a whore and a slut nine times in the space of a few pages of a thread. > [@](#): > > Whoops, missed the page change. I insulted curlcoat repeatedly in an over-the-top fashion \*\*in the Pit \*\*because I think she’s a disgusting excuse for a human being. As explained above, and in the thread if you actually read it instead of just doing desperate searches for anything I’ve posted, the whore/slut/etc. has to do with her actual positions. No, it doesn’t, and you admitted as much. You did it because you enjoyed being cruel to her. This is disingenuous bullshit excuse-making for using sexist language to insult another woman. Just woman up and admit it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120/720 "2009-09-03T16:26:04Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > I also strongly doubt if she’d used such sexually loaded language against a man… though here, when she’s trying to insult magellan01, she decides to [call his mother a “syphilis-ridden whore.”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11361593&postcount=1135) Again, using sexually loaded language, attacking a man’s mother’s sexual integrity as a way to hurt him. This, from someone who is soooo against sexism when it’s directed at her on the street in the form of catcalls. If you don’t find that hypocritical, or your own defense of her disingenuous, then I guess that’s your prerogative. I don’t find it hypocritical that she called cc a whore. I certainly find it hypocritical that she called her all the other stuff and called magellan’s mother a whore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-over-react-to-catcalling/507120.md?page=37)