Anna Falchi and “the catcalling that is basically pleased with everyone”: because minimizing harassment becomes dangerous

Come on, come on, it may actually do not know what exactly he was talking about, Anna Falchi, when he declared – a favor of a camera yesterday afternoon in Rai – that not, according to her catcalling is not a harassment. That she likes the compliments is and of her own, but the catcalling … SUVVIA, the real meaning perhaps escaped hands.

We are ready to offer any benefit of the doubt and to start again, putting the dots on the I again and tirelessly, after so much and for a long time to clear concepts, to give a name to things, to make women say what they really bother them. And catcalling is one of those things.

That annoying and sticky attitude that too many times have (and have) men on the street. Those phrases too much, whistles, appreciations, words that are spot on like a neurotic fly. This is more or less the catcalling.

What is catcalling

Catalling is a form of verbal harassment that takes place in public space, often on the street. It consists of whistles, sexualized comments, unsolicited appreciations and other expressions aimed especially at women.

It is not a simple “compliment”: the difference lies in the context and consent. A compliment arises from a respectful and mutual interaction, instead catcalling is a unilateral act, which invades the personal space of those who suffer it, reducing it to an object of desire and depriving it of the possibility of choosing whether or not to accept that type of interaction.

According to the Crusca, to complete the picture, the catcalling (which is formed from the verb to catcalldocumented together with the corresponding name catcall Already from the second half of the eighteenth century to indicate the act of whistling the unwelcome artists and the whistle of disapproval itself respectively) is a “sexual harassment, mainly verbal, which takes place on the street”.

It has started to talk about it, to indicate, an act, an unquestionant compliment, a vulgar comment, and, as the Crusca writes “whistles and strumbed by the car, intrusive questions, offenses and even real insults) which, as they are considered an expression of a sexist and devaluing mentality, constitute a specific type of sexual harassment and street harassment“.

Therefore, by putting the sums and our opinion, the word catcalling has anything but positive.

Because Anna Falchi’s statements can be dangerous

Normalize catcalling as “compliment” could actually mean legitimizing a behavior that has deep roots in patriarchal culture. It is not a question of gallantry, because gallantry presupposes respect, consensus and equality. Catalling, on the other hand, arises from a imbalance of power: those who practice it feel authorized to comment on the body or the appearance of another person, reducing it to an object to be observed and judging.

The problem is not only what is said, but the absence of choice by those who receive these comments. No woman can decide whether or not it wants to be recipient of whistles, sexual appreciations or unsolicited jokes while walking on the street, and this takes away freedom and security. For many, especially the youngest, these episodes translate into fear, embarrassment, shame and in the feeling of not being able to move freely in public space without being exposed to unwanted judgments or attention.

To say that “it is a compliment” also means discrediting the testimonies of those who suffer it as a negative experience. It is a message that makes even more difficult to report verbal harassment and risks strengthening the idea that the female body is always available for men’s gaze and comment.

In this sense, catcalling has no positive side: no, it does not strengthen self -esteem, it is not a gesture of courtesy, but a form of harassment that contributes to a culture in which women are not recognized as autonomous subjects, but as sexualized objects in public space.

That’s all, “cheers the catcalling”, Anna, just no. Let’s give words the right meaning.

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