Men's Perspective on Sexual Harassment: A Qualitative Study to Discover Men's Justifications to Catcalling Women

Abstract

Ample social scientific research captures the phenomenon and study of catcalling from the point of view of women, however there is a glaring gap in the field of sexual harassment and catcalling research. To date, there exists limited social analysis of how men view and form opinions on these behaviors. The purpose of this research is to establish the reasoning and thought process behind men's actions of catcalling. One hypothesis is that men are not able to acknowledge the actions as degrading, nor can men fully understand effects catcalling has on women. The goal of this project is based on the belief that without a deeper understanding to guide intervention, women will still endure forms of sexual harassment such as catcalling. This study used surveys to collect and examine men's opinions about catcalling. Catcalling is defined as an act of public shouting at women that is dismissive and degrading; it is in the larger umbrella of social objectification of women's and girl's lives and bodies. These findings were made through the research method of anonymous online surveys with participants solely being male. Due to limitations in the current study and challenges within social science research, the study resulted in male participants claiming that they do not engage in catcalling behaviors. However, the researcher's personal experiences with some of these participants suggests that the study design or familiarity between the researchers and the researched led to inability to believe or acknowledge these social sanctioned behaviors.