It’s easy for a male like myself to forget that public space can be made significantly less friendly for women, through catcalling by men. It’s an issue discussed this week in a column in the Montreal Mirror.
Curiously, the women the writer talks to find that while it’s not a problem in Montreal, it’s a significant issue in the United States. My guess would be that it is not a big problem in other Canadian cities, too, and I confess I was surprised at how prevalent the women he talks to find it in American cities.
He quotes a friend:
Depending on what route she takes to school, my girlfriend Sarah, who now resides in New York, averages around 10-15 comments a week. “You feel the difference between a nice complement and harassment,†she says. “About two-thirds are pretty harmless, like, ‘Nice hair.’ But one-third actually make me feel uncomfortable. It was a real shock when I moved here, because I never EVER had this problem in Montreal.â€
I’d be interested to know the experience of other women, here in Toronto and in the States.
12 comments
I can echo the statements in this article fairly clearly. I went to university in NYC, and got used to the whistles and “hey baby”s and random guys yelling out their car windows at me. It was annoying, but unless it was late or I was alone, not a real issue after a while.
But then I moved here to Toronto, and one of the first weekends here I walked Yonge from Queen to Wellesley at 1:00am, and not a single person spoke to me on the street in a harassing manner. I was rather pleansantly surprised. I’m not sure what it is about Toronto and New York that would create the difference, but I do appreciate it.
In downtown Toronto it’s strictly “look but don’t catcall”, but the suburbs you might still get a comment or whistle occasionally while passing a construction site — they seem to require the macho environment and some safety in numbers before trying it. In US cities, for sure — I’ve had it happen in NYC and San Francisco.
I’ve had it happen when passing those “men’s clubs” along Bloor, College or Dundas. One time while waiting for the streetcar at College & Dovercourt a bunch of men came outside and made some remarks implying that I was a hooker. I hate walking by those places at night.
I think that it depends on who you are. We fat girls get yelled at all the time. As does my faggy friend. As does my Pakistani friend…
Oh, I just remembered a couple of things to add. I moved here from Montreal. There, I used to get stopped on the street often, but usually pretty politely — just dudes asking for phone numbers and saying things like “I saw you walking down the street, and I liked your personality.” And I am no supermodel. It annoyed me in a way, because it made me feel unsafe to be approached by a strange man, but it was ultimately harmless and kind of flattering.
On the other hand, my first bad experience in Toronto was having a man in a car follow me down College Street from Grace to Crawford, revving his motor and creeping along beside me as I ran. That was just scary.
No big problems for me. I’ve been downtown at 2 or 3 AM, and I’ve not been harassed in any way that’s made me feel unsafe. Men just tend to say “hello” and smile, which is harmlessly flattering; at worst, I’ve gotten comments from drunks. I noticed I’m (or we are) more likely to be remarked upon when in a group, but I think that’s natural considering how much more boisterous and open we behave.
Never as bad as in NY or NJ, but Toronto streets come with plenty enough of the cat-calling/harrassment. Some days nothing, some days it’s ridiculous. Narrow downtown streets add prime opportunity for in-car yelling as well. Ugh.
Cat calling isn’t as big a problem for me in Toronto as it was in Dubai or India but I experience it on an average of twice a week. I walk down Queen to Osgoode every morning and strangely enough most of the calling is encountered at 7:30 in the morning rather than late at night! During the day it’s mostly “Hey pretty lady”-types but the night ones are more along the lines of “Hey baby, wanna come party?!”. Ugh.
Also intersting to note, in my experience the night callers are usually in a pack, which makes it that much more uncomfortable if I am alone. All in all though Toronto is NOTHING compared to some other places in the world where calls are really lewd and often come with physical gestures and even the ol’ cop-a-feel. Again, ugh. There’s only so much a fiery retort can do to make you feel better in those cases.
I have never had a problem with this here in Toronto, even in the early hours of the morning after leaving the clubs, or walking past construction sites. But I went to New York City about two years ago and in the three days that I was there, I probably got about ten calls or whistles. And this was in the middle of the day from all different guys. Some were just walking down the street, and some were construction workers.
I agree, a couple times a week here downtown, but it’s usually not threatening behaviour. Egotistical, maybe. But a couple summers ago I was living in Columbus, Ohio for a month and got harassed all the time. But I found that so few women walk places there that maybe that contributes? Doesn’t apply to NYC, obviously.
This post and the comments were described and heavily quoted (with acknowledgement) in Tuesday’s (April 11) National Post, in the Toronto “The City” section.
I am, rather annoyingly, referred to as “Blogger Dylan”. Note to newspapers – bloggers are authors too. Refer to them by last name as you would anyone else you quote.
These comments have been really interesting – thank you to everyone, and new visitors, feel free to add more impressions and experiences.
ya. cat calls aren’t that prevalent here. you’ll get some but it’s not that bad. I remember being in europe many years ago. the young men whistling in italy was a refreshing change from the old men slurpping in france and spain… can anyone explain the old men slurpping phenomenon to me? I think I prefer cat calls to slurpping.