I am a runner and I have been, to a varying degree, since I was about 13. I can't say that I love running--my discussion with myself usually sounds something like "If you don't go now, you won't be able to go again for another few days. Come on, Jackie. It's time." --but I must like something about it because there's rarely a week that doesn't find me pounding the pavement at least twice.
I feel strong when I run (most of the time), and I find it very relaxing. I'll often go for a run when I need to solve a problem or sometimes when I just need to escape. I'll occasionally have a song in my head--but I never listen to music when I run--there's too much to hear otherwise.
When I lived in my old home, I always ran in the park. I was trained on those trails and I love the nature and peace of the place. I also love the anonymity--I can disappear in the space between the trees and enter into complete and total natural silence. It's awesome.
On the other hand, running at my new home has taken some serious getting used to. There aren't any trails to run, and so there is no anonymity, and there is no silence. This place is rich in other ways, though. There is so much to see, take in, and smell. The wind off the lake is fresh and rejuvenating. And there is still a lot to hear: birds, chirping crickets, the sound of laughter and children playing. Unfortunately, there are also what I consider to be the absolute epitome of misguided masculinity: catcalls.
Like every other woman I know, I HATE catcalls. Now, I am many things when I run: meditative, thoughtful, observant, occasionally fast...I am NOT, nor do I ever wish to be, sexy. Just because running is relaxing, that does not mean that it's easy. I push myself, which means that I am covered in sweat and the look on my face is probably somewhere between focused and pained. No serious female runner runs to be sexy--at least it's not on her mind at the moment...although it may be part of the desired outcome. And most woman runners hope beyond hope that they will NOT be seen by anyone they know. (I hate the moment when I walk into school and some teenager says "Hey, Ms. C, I saw you running yesterday!"--My mind quickly races to determine whether or not I had done anything embarrassing.) Women do not run to be seen. It's not an attractive female sport! Gravity makes things difficult and we all know that we no longer look like the gazelles we were in high school.
So why the catcalls?
I have been whistled at, jeered at, honked at, gestured at, and screamed at. The other day I was running and, no joke, a man stuck his entire torso out of the passenger side of an 18' Enterprise rental truck and screamed some obnoxious and vulgar thing at me. What the....? I am still baffled by what he could have possibly hoped to accomplish. I just don't understand!
What are they for? And where do men learn such awful behavior? Do men honestly not comprehend that for a woman who is focused on her run, they are downright frightening?
And not only that, but not a single woman I know is flattered by catcalls or has ever responded to them positively. Catcalls, if they are EVER appropriate, should be reserved only for women on street corners as an indication that what they are doing is effective. But me sweating my ass off on the sidewalk of a safe suburb? PLEASE, gentlemen. Shelve the egos.
And for those catcalling males who wonder why we wear what we wear when we run. No, it is NOT for your benefit. The bra is a necessity, the tanktop is because it's cooler, the shorts are because they're comfortable, and the body is not--nor will it ever be--for you.
I feel strong when I run (most of the time), and I find it very relaxing. I'll often go for a run when I need to solve a problem or sometimes when I just need to escape. I'll occasionally have a song in my head--but I never listen to music when I run--there's too much to hear otherwise.
When I lived in my old home, I always ran in the park. I was trained on those trails and I love the nature and peace of the place. I also love the anonymity--I can disappear in the space between the trees and enter into complete and total natural silence. It's awesome.
On the other hand, running at my new home has taken some serious getting used to. There aren't any trails to run, and so there is no anonymity, and there is no silence. This place is rich in other ways, though. There is so much to see, take in, and smell. The wind off the lake is fresh and rejuvenating. And there is still a lot to hear: birds, chirping crickets, the sound of laughter and children playing. Unfortunately, there are also what I consider to be the absolute epitome of misguided masculinity: catcalls.
Like every other woman I know, I HATE catcalls. Now, I am many things when I run: meditative, thoughtful, observant, occasionally fast...I am NOT, nor do I ever wish to be, sexy. Just because running is relaxing, that does not mean that it's easy. I push myself, which means that I am covered in sweat and the look on my face is probably somewhere between focused and pained. No serious female runner runs to be sexy--at least it's not on her mind at the moment...although it may be part of the desired outcome. And most woman runners hope beyond hope that they will NOT be seen by anyone they know. (I hate the moment when I walk into school and some teenager says "Hey, Ms. C, I saw you running yesterday!"--My mind quickly races to determine whether or not I had done anything embarrassing.) Women do not run to be seen. It's not an attractive female sport! Gravity makes things difficult and we all know that we no longer look like the gazelles we were in high school.
So why the catcalls?
I have been whistled at, jeered at, honked at, gestured at, and screamed at. The other day I was running and, no joke, a man stuck his entire torso out of the passenger side of an 18' Enterprise rental truck and screamed some obnoxious and vulgar thing at me. What the....? I am still baffled by what he could have possibly hoped to accomplish. I just don't understand!
What are they for? And where do men learn such awful behavior? Do men honestly not comprehend that for a woman who is focused on her run, they are downright frightening?
And not only that, but not a single woman I know is flattered by catcalls or has ever responded to them positively. Catcalls, if they are EVER appropriate, should be reserved only for women on street corners as an indication that what they are doing is effective. But me sweating my ass off on the sidewalk of a safe suburb? PLEASE, gentlemen. Shelve the egos.
And for those catcalling males who wonder why we wear what we wear when we run. No, it is NOT for your benefit. The bra is a necessity, the tanktop is because it's cooler, the shorts are because they're comfortable, and the body is not--nor will it ever be--for you.
Feral and domestic sexually intact felines offer their voices (an ungainly, disturbing and upsetting cacophony to human ears) when their hormones surge. The message is "come, see (and if lucky, COME)
ReplyDeleteThe cats cannot control or regulate this behavior ... unless some surgeon "snips" them or otherwise disengages the flow from hormone to voice.
Any self respecting debonair male cat or equally distinguished feline femme fatale (like a certain longhaired grey female) would NOT want to be video taped in those moments. These self respecting felines would, most likely, hang their heads and say "Excuse me, it was a momentary hormonal blip that made me act so outrageously"
so why do groupings of the superior race affirm and encourage one another in that obnoxious behavior of catcalling?
I have no answer, but I do have a response:
SNIP!
Love it!
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