On Catcalling: Ladies Share Their Stories

2023-08-15T01:40:18+00:00

By Ev

There is not a single woman that is without her own story on catcalling, which doubles as assault and harassment to them.It is almost as if when men were being put into the world they were given a mandate to ‘catcall’. The market traders are a different breed entirely, you’d think that they themselves doubled as audacity.Here are some stories I’ve gathered:Uchenna has gone to the market many times with her mum and has been called a range of things, some of which include “my colour”, “my wife”, and “my love”. Her arm has been grabbed and caressed. She has even had one man follow her for five minutes because she was “his own”.When Ada refused to respond to the greetings of men while she walked on the road, they decided to insult her, stating that she wasn’t even fine, while another said, “Na you we dey greet, see as you keep face strong like shit” (You are the one we are greeting. Look how you’ve kept your face like shit).When Tomi refused to give a particular trader her number, he decided he would not bargain with her on the price of goods.Idara doesn’t even use public transport anymore because the stares from men have become harassment.Just yesterday, while waiting for the roads to clear so she could cross, a man wound down his window and shouted “Hey beautiful!” at Tomiwa – like there was a sign on her forehead that said she needed to be told that she was beautiful.

Last year, as Jemima was walking home, a man in his car decided to act before thinking, brought down his window and started pouting his lips at her.Idowu had me laughing with her story. A bike rider rode past her, and said “See as you fine” (Look how pretty you are). This happened twice. She also mentioned how a security man approached her and said “Come make we go drink” (Come, let’s go for a drink).Do you see now that these men need to be chained up? They shouldn’t be allowed to walk around without their leash.The ugly part about it is that we cannot say that uneducated men or men without exposure do it, because in schools you have boys doing the same and even worse.So, to all my girlies living in this world, where abnormalities are the norm, you have my empathy.

Oghome Evwierhoma