The majority of girls and women have experienced it, and the majority of girls and women do not appreciate it:

Cat Calling (verb): make an unwanted whistle, shout, or comment of a sexual nature to a                                                               person passing by.

These are the kinds of things that degrade, sexualize, and, unfortunately, objectify women. The objectification of women is an unfortunate part of American society that people seem to accept.

Senior Charlotte Carr agrees, “The problem with cat calling…is the underlying mentality that a man has a right to sexualize and objectify women based on their looks, and think it’s a compliment. It’s offense.”

American society is not the only place where cat calling is an epidemic. In many countries, cat calling is part of the culture and occurs in everyday life without anyone blinking an eye. Why do women and girls accept being called on by men while they are walking down the street?

Dealing with cat calls and trying to expel them from society is a hard subject. Technically, cat calling is illegal since it is a form of sexual harassment, but it is hard to prosecute a passerby that most likely will never come into your life again. That is why as a community, men and women have to come together to fight cat calling because of the objectification it brings with it.

Outstanding members of communities across America have been steps to try to end cat calling and the objectification it brings to society. A remarkable organization, Hollaback! helps women stand up when they are cat called and truly “holla back” by posting their story online and documenting the incident, standing up to the harasser and taking away their power.

Hollaback! now inhabits 71 cities in the United States, and 24 countries across the globe, making a difference from community to community.

It is not only Hollaback! that gets involved in this issue, many other organizations dedicate time and money to the cause of ending cat calling and street harassment. Women are also not the only victims of street harassment. Members of the LGBTQ community often receive unwanted and unsolicited street harassment.

What these organizations want is for the streets of America (and eventually the world) to be safe for everyone, man, woman, and child collectively. “There’s a misconception that it’s a compliment but it’s actually terrifying for the woman involved,” added junior Kortni Song.

Cat calling is a form of sexual harassment that needs to be ended in order to stunt the objectification and sexualization of women that the media has already paved a way for. Making someone feel uncomfortable just because they were walking down the street is a crime in itself. It is our job, as society, to make everyone feel comfortable in their society and to keep all the people in America equal, no person superior to another.