Dive Brief:
- Some news reporting draws polarized responses, and New York Post reporter Doree Lewak's first-person account on the ego-boosting effect of construction-site catcalls is definitely in that category.
- Lewak argues that in summer, "walking confidently past a mass of men, making eye contact and flashing a smile shows you as you are: self-possessed and playful. The wolf whistles that follow will send your ego soaring."
- It might make construction-company lawyers a little jittery, but the dynamic, Lewak argues, "is as primal as it gets, ladies! They either grunt in recognition or they go back to their coffee break."
Dive Insight:
Lewak is not going to be loved by those who say female construction workers suffer because of how male colleagues behave toward them. It seems unrealistic to expect male workers to make a distinction between women passing by who, like Lewak, relish their sexually oriented attention and female co-workers who don't. Even Lewak makes a point of noting that there are good catcalls that boost the ego and ones that are simply crude.