Catcalling in the Eyes of the University Students

Abstract

Globally, there is a need to realize that catcalling acts should not be viewed as harmless. Society have sometimes failed to figure out the consequences of these simple acts and as catcalling continues to be ignored, millions of women experience a threat to their dignity and safety in public spaces. This paper focused on the catcalling experience of the students at College of Nursing and College of Hospitality and Tourism Management. This study covers acts considered as catcalling, impact of catcalling to the participants and the process in which women cope with catcalling experience. This study employed case study approach in understanding the lived catcalling experiences of the students. It was found out that the participants considered the following acts of catcalling. a) Unwanted comments and b) wolf-whistling; the impact of catcalling to the participants includes low self-esteem, socially detached, feel unsafe, and self-objectified and the coping mechanisms used are passive and active. Most of the participants used passive coping mechanisms by ignoring the experience while other participant used active coping mechanism by confronting the cat callers. In Conclusion, catcalling acts is conceptualized as a primarily negative experience that has negative consequence for women’s psychological well-being.