When women walk by, men whistle? Compliment or insult?

I think I'd be 'chuffed' to high heaven, if I walked down a street with hundreds of women whistling after me.
I think I'd walk that route 50 times a day. 😊
January said:
It isn't about us as senior people feeling that way - I don't think a young teenage boy would really feel chuffed at a gang of older women whistling and making lewd suggestions at him.
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January, I think we have our wires crossed. I was not talking about being a teenage boy being 'chuffed', I was talking about me now at 85 being whistled at by women and how chuffed I'd feel.
Come on ladies, all together now, I've got my hearing aids in. 😊
 
Oh OK timoc.

I thought you to be saying males in equivalent situation would be ok with it
 

Lavinia said:
Don't us ladies appreciate a good-looking man, especially on building sites? Their muscles are acquired naturally, not in the gym which suggests vanity. Most women can't whistle but I'm sure we would if we could.

I enjoy watching men playing football. I have no interest in the game but like to admire the fit bodies.
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Nothing wrong with that - or of men looking at women.

Looking isn't whistling and cat-calling
 
oscash said:
I saw a t.v. show here once and they reversed the situation of a man walking past a group of women and they all started whistling and giving cat calls to him, you should have seen the look on his face, totally embarrassed, although some did smile. I would never walk past a hotel in the evening after work because the men, in those days, used to drink on the footpath and call out things like," G'day darling and want to go on a date with me". You'd just ignore them.
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Right, because they're mainly showing off for their friends and would turn bright red and be gobsmacked if you accepted that date.

When I worked in the Pentagon, I was usually front lined opening accounts and handling complaints and since everyone from janitor to general was allowed to join I felt like I knew all 10,000 people who worked there.

One day I passed a construction site inside the concourse and one of the workers said something I couldn't quite hear. Foolishly, still in work mode, I thought he was probably asking me something like, "When do the ATM's change date?" So I stopped and smiled and asked him to repeat what he said and the poor guy turned purple and stuttered a little bit. He muttered, "I just said, 'it must be nice.' " Then we both turned red and I said I was sorry. I felt like I'd broken the unspoken code of conduct.
 
I'd probably figure some cute young woman must be in the vicinity. Any "communication" to me from strangers is usually along the lines of, "Do you need any help, ma'am?" I always say no thank you, but privately feel annoyed. Geez. do they think I'm an old lady or something? 😁
 
LadyEmeraude said:
I imagine some men would like to be whistled at, or so I hear.
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If a woman whistled at me when I walked by, it would make my day....though, I'd for sure look over my shoulder and be like "Who...me?"

It's a complement and always has been. When it started getting controversial and men were shamed into knocking it off, some men probably thought "Finally....those poor women," but most of em probly scratched their heads and wondered "What...really?" But we know women are different, so most men just accepted it with an "Ok. My bad"....probly still wondering why, though.

(qualifier: this is a west coast perspective)
 
... just a whistle to all the wimmens on this forum. Y'all is cute
DISCLAIMER: I didn't whistle ... that guy did ... so don't get me in trouble with the forum HRM office ;)

QOHliK1.jpeg
 
Murrmurr said:
If a woman whistled at me when I walked by, it would make my day....though, I'd for sure look over my shoulder and be like "Who...me?"
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Let's put this in a little more context. You're 18-22 years old by yourself, you're in the seediest part of town and the women are gathered together, clearly able to harm you by ganging together or calling more males in the area. Same reaction?

Construction workers whistling and one guy in a safe setting whistling are different things. Because the one guy in the controlled environment is likely to get mocked or in trouble.

If you're both alone out in the street, it's just cowardly. Why not actually walk up and talk instead of doing a drive-by ambiguous communication?
 
I lost my ability to whistle. It's not a social or cultural thing. I just can't do it. I was never a great whistler, but I could manage. Now I put my lips in the right position and blow, and all that I hear is air. I'm not sure when I lost the ability. I probably went years without whistling, and then one day I tried it for some reason, and it was gone.

Now when a pretty lady walks by, I don't know what to do. Saying "Yaabadaaba Doooo! 😍" doesn't seem appropriately wolfish. I don't think it would be a good way to break the ice and begin a relationship.
 
caramel said:
Let's put this in a little more context. You're 18-22 years old by yourself, you're in the seediest part of town and the women are gathered together, clearly able to harm you by ganging together or calling more males in the area. Same reaction?

Construction workers whistling and one guy in a safe setting whistling are different things. Because the one guy in the controlled environment is likely to get mocked or in trouble.

If you're both alone out in the street, it's just cowardly. Why not actually walk up and talk instead of doing a drive-by ambiguous communication?
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Whistling was almost always meant as a complement. Men knew that some women didn't see it that way, but thought the majority of them did.

Today, men rarely whistle at women.

As to your scenario where I'm around 20, alone and in a seedy part of town; I would assume a gang of women are selling *something" and that, very likely, their handlers are somewhere in the shadows, keeping an eye on things. That's what I would assume, because I've been in that situation. Except I was more like 30. But I'd have assumed the same if I'd been 20.

Now, that's happened at night. During the day I'd wonder why those ladies were out so early.
 
Murrmurr said:
Whistling was almost always meant as a complement. Men knew that some women didn't see it that way, but thought the majority of them did.
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At least one example in this thread showed that it wasn't meant as a compliment but more as taunting.

Hard to know what's meant by everyone in that situation. Some men might have thought of it as a macho game that showed their dominance. Others might have just gone along out of fear to go against their peers. Some might have thought they were showing their appreciation. Did those men whistle at expensive cars as they drove by if they were driven by huge men?

Murrmurr said:
Now, that's happened at night. During the day I'd wonder why those ladies were out so early.
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Would you be flattered and complimented?
 
JustDave said:
I lost my ability to whistle. It's not a social or cultural thing. I just can't do it. I was never a great whistler, but I could manage. Now I put my lips in the right position and blow, and all that I hear is air. I'm not sure when I lost the ability. I probably went years without whistling, and then one day I tried it for some reason, and it was gone.

Now when a pretty lady walks by, I don't know what to do. Saying "Yaabadaaba Doooo! 😍" doesn't seem appropriately wolfish. I don't think it would be a good way to break the ice and begin a relationship.
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You're all confused, Dave! Yaabadaaba Dooo only works on Wilma Flintstone. If I remember correctly from my West Virginia teen days, you're supposed to stick your arm out of the window of your Chevy, slap on the outside, and yell, "Hubba hubba!"
 
caramel said:
At least one example in this thread showed that it wasn't meant as a compliment but more as taunting.

Hard to know what's meant by everyone in that situation. Some men might have thought of it as a macho game that showed their dominance. Others might have just gone along out of fear to go against their peers. Some might have thought they were showing their appreciation. Did those men whistle at expensive cars as they drove by if they were driven by huge men?
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A car isn't going to feel complemented (or insulted), so, no. But I have heard men say out loud, "Nice car!"

I wasn't going out on a limb when I said it's usually a complement. It means "Lookin' good!"
caramel said:
Would you be flattered and complimented?
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I recognize your scenario as marketing and not personal, so I don't feel one way or the other about it.

Might try to remember how much cash I have on me, though.
(I'm joking!!)
 
JustDave said:
I lost my ability to whistle. It's not a social or cultural thing. I just can't do it.
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Same here. I was always a great whistler, very tuneful, could whistle any song very well and did it often (much to the dismay of my very, very proper great-aunt who thought women whistling songs was very, very IMproper).

In the last couple of years, my whistling has deteriorated. I can still do it, but it's more "air" than "whistle".
 
OK, whistling anecdote: it's 1970, I'm very noticeably pregnant and strolling around Rome with one of my sisters.

An Italian guy starts trying to talk to us, very flirtatious, won't give up. We keep telling him to go away but he won't give up.

I was carrying a huge tote bag and apparently he can't see past it to see my "delicate condition". I whip around to face him and poke my belly at him.

He turns a whiter shade of pale, apologizes profusely, and about melts into the pavement. People are laughing. An older lady tells us that he was "singing the apple" until he found out the apple was over-ripe.

I'll bet he was pretty careful after that about who he put the moves on...LOL.
 
I"d never do it, even back in the day. But your heart can skip a beat when you see someone....... special. To express it is rude. IMO. But then, I'm English. :D
 
Della said:
You're all confused, Dave! Yaabadaaba Dooo only works on Wilma Flintstone. If I remember correctly from my West Virginia teen days, you're supposed to stick your arm out of the window of your Chevy, slap on the outside, and yell, "Hubba hubba!"
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Yeah, that's right. I couldn't remember. "hubba hubba!" while banging the side of the car door, is much more nuanced.
 

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