This might just be the stepping stone for the Philippines to follow in western culture's 3rd and 4th wave girl power movement's footsteps.
One post on Facebook that went viral recently took pretty much the same stance as their western counterparts. But before my input, let us dive into the gist of the trending story.
The story begins when a woman was catcalled while she was riding her bicycle. It was mentioned that it was done by two guys in separate instances, who both said to her, "Hi Babes.". Since the guys who tried to talk to her were people she did not know, it is understandable that the woman felt annoyed and uncomfortable. Moving forward with the story, she kept pedaling on and then took photos of both guys.
The story begins when a woman was catcalled while she was riding her bicycle. It was mentioned that it was done by two guys in separate instances, who both said to her, "Hi Babes.". Since the guys who tried to talk to her were people she did not know, it is understandable that the woman felt annoyed and uncomfortable. Moving forward with the story, she kept pedaling on and then took photos of both guys.
In my opinion, that should be the end of it. No harm. no foul. But then there's the post on social media that says such is part of rape culture and toxic masculinity; that such is harassment.
I beg to differ. Why? That is simply what happens when men try to get the attention of women that they find attractive. It can be awkward and the level of awkwardness varies depending on several factors including the appearance, physical traits, personality, and level of communication skill of the speaker; but nevertheless, there is a certain degree of awkwardness most of the time, if not always.
However, a person trying to get somebody's attention, even if it could be really brash and awkward, is not illegal. Those men were trying to express themselves to get the woman's favorable attention (and obviously, they failed). But despite that, the freedom to express oneself still remains to be a constitutional right (in the Philippines at least).
Consequently, exercising the right to express includes the risk of being in an awkward situation and making the one you're trying to speak with to feel uncomfortable. And in the context of wanting intimacy out of it, add to that the risk of being rejected and in some cases be humiliated due to the rejection.
That is not harassment. That is just a brash and poorly executed way of trying to get with the woman. Why is that?
Because the woman has the liberty to not give the men her favorable attention. She has the liberty to reject it. And she did reject them. She may have felt uncomfortable, but she was never forced to do anything nor threatened.
To cap it off, this kind of thinking is most likely prone to double standards. Don't tell it's going to be the same story if somebody she does not know but is good-looking, wealthy, and/or famous said to her, "Hi babes." Most likely, the reality is something like the rage comic below.
