Today was a day I was not prepared for when I woke up this morning.
Two events happened which I had hoped wouldn’t happen for some time yet. One if fact, I hoped wouldn’t happen at all.
The first surprise came when I was helping my daughter change out of her swimmers. For some reason, she insists on wearing full length leggings in our blow up paddle pool and waterslide contraption, and well, we all know how difficult it is to peel off wet clothes, even if they’re just swimmers.
It was at this moment of wrestling the wet leggings from around her feet that I noticed that my little girl, my first baby, is beginning to get pubic hair.
Given that she has just turned eight, I was taken aback. Admittedly, I can’t actually remember when it started for me, so I did some frantic Googling to find reassurance that it is normal.
She’s on the young side, but still on the “normal” scale. Although surprised and very much unprepared for puberty (is anyone ever really prepared with their first child?), I soon put it out of my mind and got on with my day. It’s just a bit of hair after all; no biggie.
And now for the second event I wasn’t ready for today. My little girl, who at the tender age of eight has just shown her first sign of growing up into a young woman, was cat-called.
My eight year old was cat-called by grown-ass men at a pub as we walked by with her little brothers in the pram after day-care pickup. As we were the only ones in the street, I tried to convince myself they were only shouting at me. But the words “little beauty” stuck out. They were aimed at her.
An hour later, I’m still shaking with rage. Rage at those pigs who felt entitled to call out to a little girl walking with her mum and brothers, and rage at myself for not doubling back to give them a piece of my mind and perhaps snap a photo of their revolting heads.
I was so shocked that I didn’t react how I should have in the moment. Should have I called the police? Their behaviour was harassment at best, paedophilic at worst. I hate that I just walked fast with my head down.
I hate that these two events are now connected in my mind. I hate that on the very same day I noticed the first sign of puberty on her, she was cat-called for the first time. I hate the way it feels like those men somehow knew.
Women confess the times they felt like a bad mother. Post continues after video.
I’m thankful that my daughter didn’t seem to even notice them or their words. I don’t want her to start fearing having to walk past pubs, or walking past groups of men, or just walking outside her own home in general in case men yell out awful, threatening things.
Eight is far too young to learn that she needs to be afraid.
All the men who participate in this kind of behaviour thinking that it’s a great joke or a compliment are creating a culture where other men feel comfortable and entitled to do it to even little girls like my daughter.
It’s sickening, and it’s wrong. So men, next time you think about cat-calling a woman, consider whether you’re okay with that happening to a child. Because whether you’d do it or not, you’re encouraging it.
Top Comments
Hearing "little beauty" may have been referring to you rather than your daughter. How tall are you? I do find it difficult to believe men in a pub would do that to a child, if one man were to do it every other man there would jump on him for it.
Has nobody ever told you why you shouldn't assume?
Disgusting! There is no excuse for wolf-whistles at all!!! This is the 21st century. Women are no longer meat on parade. Men who do this make walking down the street a form of torture for women. I won't emphasise the usual demographic that these men come from but I will say they're the ones more likely to vote for Trump over Clinton, simply because she's a woman. Women should be able to dob in to police men who do this so they can receive a formal reprimand. Women can't access the streets freely at night due to men's violence but during the daytime they can be 'assaulted' also. It is so humiliating. When I worked in the city, I would walk entire extra blocks to avoid building sites because of this problem, it caused constant discomfort and embarrassment. Women who enjoy or feel this behaviour is in any way acceptable, especially towards young girls, are absolutely pathetic. When are men just going to grow up!
If women are no longer meat on parade (and I agree that they shouldn't be) why do so many follow the fashion bandwagon and try to look attractive? The problem as I see it is the mysoginistic society we live in where women seem forced to have to come up to some standard of beauty and sexiness.