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Notes -
I wish I had a fraction of the energy and creativity for upskilling and entrepreneurship as so many women have for finding excuses to farm sexual attention with plausible deniability.
This would be another example for how, in Western societies, the compromise with respect to the trade-off between female freedom and protection is expressed by limiting male freedom and protection. We can’t suggest to women that they could dress less thottily, so let’s arrest men instead. This would fit well in a country where people can be arrested for hate-speech.
Catcalling is an avenue for women to humblebrag; she's so attractive as to be catcalled all the time. A Wojak with a seething mask in front, but smirking behind it, comes to mind.
It reminds me of US police bodycams. Progressives went from being pro- to anti-bodycam as the bodycams just reflected that indeed, non-Asian minority suspects are as wrong-thinkers might think they are—perhaps worse. Thus, bodycams became a Problematic vehicle for which stereotypes might be reinforced, like security cameras in Californian public transport later on became.
For better or worse, cat-callers are by default, an unsympathetic group, like drunk drivers or age-of-consent-trespassers. There’s compass unity between progressive and social conservatives, with only a staunch subset of libertarians willing to go to bat for them. However, I could see progressives getting around to support cat-callers for disparate impact reasons.
Such verbiage allows for “know the workplace rules”, to be attractive and not be unattractive. Just read her mind, bro, otherwise know your place. In addition, it allows for anarcho-tyranny, where men of different cultures could have different views on what constitutes “reasonable person.”
That being said, I rather dislike catcallers. To me, it’s aesthetically bad in not being a good look.
It’s also annoying in boosting women’s egos and baseline paranoia levels. Men catcalling is rendering it more difficult, on the margins, for higher status and/or better-looking men with some semblance of tact who would otherwise have a shot at the catcalled women. Yes, yes, I know—other men have always been the primary victims of men cat-calling women. *crosses arms, turns away*
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