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

[Brookswood]

I imagine some men would like to be whistled at, or so I hear.

I actually prefer a pat on the rear. I promise, no complaints about harassment, etc.

 

[Jules]

When I was 11/12 and having to walk past some workmen building a house on my way to school, they’d whistle. It made me uncomfortable. Can you imagine a parent or a grandparent like us putting up with that now?

 

[TennVet]

I see it as an insult and even invading privacy. A more appropriate action is a smile and a polite acknowledgement.

 

[Beezer]

I think it would be deemed rude to 'wolf whistle' at a gal these days.

But I am able to almost shatter glass with my loud whistle by putting my right hand fingers in my mouth.

 

[debodun]

A compliment, but in a demeaning way.

 

[MaidMarian]

It never bothered me.

 

[Naturally]

Tried to wolf whistle and never got the mechanics of it down
Can regular whistle though

I may have whistled at a friend or someone I was in a relationship with
And always as a compliment, never used as an "introduction"

... the girl in the OP doesn't look offended at all

 

[RadishRose]

I don't feel it's insulting, but it's very rude. Very rude! I always felt uncomfortable and embarrassed when it happened.

 

[Jondalar7]

I have a few times and it was mainly to entertain my guy friends. I think the last time I did that I was 65 and she was probably the same. I got flipped off. Which was a great laugh for my buddy. I meant it as a compliment to and old gal that was wearing a tight sweater.

 

[Trade]

Between my Junior and Senior year of college (1968) my Uncle Bill hooked me up with a construction job for the summer in New Jersey and some of the guys I worked with participated in that sort of behavior. But I never joined in.

 

[January]

Tried to wolf whistle and never got the mechanics of it down
Can regular whistle though

I may have whistled at a friend or someone I was in a relationship with
And always as a compliment, never used as an "introduction"

... the girl in the OP doesn't look offended at all

No she might not look offended or uncomfortable or embarrassed - because women weren't allowed t o complain about such behaviour then and had to smile and pretend the y were ok with it, whether they were or not.

I can imagine how I would feel in her shoes as a young woman, walking past a dozen whistling, ogling and making lewd remarks - and that would be very uncomfortable.

 

[Bretrick]

30 - 40 -50 and beyond years ago it was considered a compliment.
As far as I know, it is against the law, sexual harassment. In some Australian states, at least.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is unlawful. Unwanted or unwelcome behaviour that may constitute sexual harassment includes:
•suggestive behaviour;
•staring or leering;
•wolf whistling;
•making sexual jokes;
•making sexual propositions;
•sexual or physical contact;
•making sexually offensive gestures;
•displaying sexually offensive objects;
• displaying sexually explicit material in a public place or in people’s work areas.

 

[Warrigal]

A compliment, but in a demeaning way.

An intended compliment that is received as very demeaning. It reduces women to little more than meat.
When combined with vulgar gestures it is horrible.

 

[Paladin1950]

I can't even recall the last time I heard men whistling. Maybe in New York City. Maybe when I was living in Florida in the 1960's. Maybe when I was living in Rochester, New York in the 1950's. It's like something from the far distant past.

 

[Magna-Carta]

The photo in the OP looks very staged and somewhat false to me. It appears to be something a professional street photographer would take. Perhaps some, or at least one person in the photo is a professional model, with the others being local unpaid volunteers just for the purpose of taking the photo? Therefore, I don't think the question can be answered purely based on the photo.

With that out of the way, I don’t think the OP is asking about that particular photo per se, but rather about the question, "When women walk by, men whistle? Compliment or insult?"

I think it’s possible for everything we do or say to be done in a respectful or disrespectful way. Yet, the way in which something is received can be highly subjective based on a person’s own experiences and perspectives.

I have noticed in the past that when some people are wolf-whistled at, the way it is received can depend on how handsome or pretty the person doing the whistling is. How someone might feel about being wolf-whistled might also depend on the environment and whether the people involved are known to each other. Being wolf-whistled by several men in an otherwise deserted street, devoid of other women, versus in a more ‘safer’ social setting, or a staged setting such as the photo, can result in very different reactions. There are always going to be different answers to the question posed by the OP.

As for me, I’ve been wolf-whistled on a number of occasions when I was younger, usually in the middle of town while shopping. On one occasion, at the age of 18, I was walking through a factory floor mostly of women. Greeted by them with wolf whistles as they were working away. Along with phrases such as, "get your clothes off". The male manager I was walking with said to me something like, “Just ignore them, they are animals." It was my first taste of what some women in group’s can be like.

The last time, much to my surprise, was in 2019 from a small group of women who were already seated in a movie theatre. They were unknown to me. I was walking towards them up an aisle as I was heading to my seat to watch Ford v Ferrari. At my age it was a compliment. It felt like it was the best day of the year so far. It could have been a group of men whistling at me for all I care. At my age, you have to take what you can get!

 

[Magna-Carta]

On a lighter note:

 

[DebraMae]

It always made me uncomfortable. I am glad wolf whistles have mostly gone the way of the dodo bird.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

I don't feel it's insulting, but it's very rude. Very rude! I always felt uncomfortable and embarrassed when it happened.

Men whistling when a woman walks by is insulting. They might mean it to be complimentary but it’s not. It’s very embarrassing. A smile, a nod or a friendly hello is acknowledgment enough.

 

[Sciguy]

I imagine some men would like to be whistled at, or so I hear.

It would beat the snickering I usually get...

 

[LadyEmeraude]

To me it's an interesting topic and I've liked reading everyone's posts..

 

[MarkinPhx]

Curiosity did get the best of me so I did a search on the history of the "wolf whistle". This article from the BBC was an interesting read for me. According to the article, it gained popularity because of the cartoons by Tex Avery back in the late 1930's.

The surprising history of the wolf-whistle

 

[LadyEmeraude]

PS: I received a message via chat asking why I 'like' most everyone's
posts. For those who might know me from other forums, It basically
is what I do, as to acknowledge I have read the individual post. It is
therefore, simply my way of saying, that I have viewed and read.

 

[Jules]

PS: I received a message via chat asking why I 'like' most everyone's
posts. For those who might know me from other forums, It basically
is what I do, as to acknowledge I have read the individual post. It is
therefore, simply my way of saying, that I have viewed and read.

If I start a thread, I acknowledge each reply with a ‘like’.

 

[Pepper]

I'm not sure how it could be interpreted as an insult. It's pretty hard to whistle sarcastically.

But I can't imagine it happening very often today either. Almost anything a guy might do or say has been criminalized. It takes a lot of guts now to risk initiating any level of contact.

Could you be more misogynist? You can do better than that, if you try. Don't blame the mistakes you made on the poor choice of woman you made them with on all women

 

[PeppermintPatty]

PS: I received a message via chat asking why I 'like' most everyone's
posts. For those who might know me from other forums, It basically
is what I do, as to acknowledge I have read the individual post. It is
therefore, simply my way of saying, that I have viewed and read.

There’s nothing wrong with liking and acknowledging everyone’s posts.