Wolf-whistling

Last updated
In Spanish, the wolf whistle sound is written as 'fiu fiu'. Wolf whistle.jpg
In Spanish, the wolf whistle sound is written as 'fiu fiu'.

A wolf whistle is a distinctive two-note glissando whistled sound made to show high interest in or approval of something or someone (usually a woman), especially at someone viewed as physically or sexually attractive. Today, a wolf whistle directed at a person is sometimes considered a precursor to sexual harassment, or a form of sexual harassment in itself. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

The name comes from the Wolf character in the popular 1943 Tex Avery cartoon Red Hot Riding Hood who whistles in this way at the sexy female character Red. [4] He whistles at her in several other subsequent cartoons. The term appears in North American newspapers as early as 1943. [5] It appears in British newspapers from 1949 onwards. [6] [7]

According to Adam Edwards of Daily Express , the wolf whistle originates from the navy General Call made with a boatswain's pipe. The General Call is made on a ship to get the attention of all hands for an announcement. Sailors in harbour would whistle the General Call upon seeing an attractive woman to draw fellow sailors' attention to her. It was eventually picked up by passers-by, not knowing the real meaning of the whistle, and passed on. [8] [ better source needed ] During a 2015 broadcast of A Way with Words , doubt was cast upon this explanation by lexicographer Grant Barrett, who noted that it was very thinly supported. [9] The Turn To Call is far closer to the wolf whistle than the General Call. [10]

A variant, finger whistling, involves fingers being inserted above the curled tongue [11] to produce a louder and more penetrating tone.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual harassment</span> Unwanted sexual attention or advances

Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment can be physical and/or a demand or request for sexual favors, making sexually colored remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions from verbal transgressions to sexual abuse or assault. Harassment can occur in many different social settings such as the workplace, the home, school, or religious institutions. Harassers or victims can be of any gender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whistling</span> Whistling without use of an artificial whistle

Whistling, without the use of an artificial whistle, is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The air is moderated by the lips, curled tongue, teeth or fingers to create turbulence, and the curled tongue acts as a resonant chamber to enhance the resulting sound by acting as a type of Helmholtz resonator. By moving the various parts of the lips, fingers, tongue, and epiglottis, one can then manipulate the types of whistles produced.

In India, eve teasing is a euphemism, primarily occurring in English, used for public sexual harassment or sexual assault of women by men. The name "Eve" alludes to the Bible's creation story concerning Adam and Eve. Considered a problem related to delinquency in male youth, it is a form of sexual aggression that ranges in severity from sexually suggestive remarks, brushing in public places and catcalls, to groping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Innuendo</span> A suggestive remark

An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging, that works obliquely by allusion. In the latter sense, the intention is often to insult or accuse someone in such a way that one's words, taken literally, are innocent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. J. Akbar</span> Indian journalist and politician (born 1951)

Mobasher Jawed Akbar is an Indian journalist and politician, who served as the Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs until 17 October 2018. Akbar is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, and was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers by PM Narendra Modi on 5 July 2016. He is also a veteran Indian journalist and author of several books. He was a Member of Parliament between 1989 and 1991, and returned to public life in March 2014 when he joined the BJP and was appointed national spokesperson during the 2014 general elections that brought the party back to office with a simple majority under the leadership of Narendra Modi. In July 2015 he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand. During his long career in journalism, he launched, as editor, India's first weekly political news periodicals, including India Today, Headlines Today, The Telegraph, The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle, among others.

<i>Red Hot Riding Hood</i> 1943 American animated short film directed by Tex Avery

Red Hot Riding Hood is an animated cartoon short subject, directed by Tex Avery and released with the movie Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case on May 8, 1943, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1994, it was voted number 7 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field, making it the highest ranked MGM cartoon on the list. It is one of Avery's most popular cartoons, inspiring several of his own "sequel" shorts as well as influencing other cartoons and feature films for years afterward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street harassment</span> Harassment occurring in a public setting

Street harassment is a form of harassment, primarily sexual harassment that consists of unwanted sexualised comments, provocative gestures, honking, wolf-whistlings, indecent exposures, stalking, persistent sexual advances, and touching by strangers, in public areas such as streets, shopping malls and public transportation. Besides actions or comments that contain a sexual connotation, it often includes homophobic and transphobic slurs, and hateful comments referencing race, religion, class, ethnicity and disability. The practice is rooted in power and control and is often a reflection of societal discrimination, and has been argued to sometimes result from a lack of opportunities for expression of interest or affection.

Wingman is a role that a person may take when a friend needs support with approaching potential romantic partners. People who have a wingman can have more than one wingman. A wingman is someone who is on the "inside" and is used to help someone with intimate relationships. In general, one person's wingman will help them avoid attention from undesirable prospective partners or attract desirable ones, or both.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Mendelsohn</span> American screenwriter

Jack Mendelsohn was an American writer-artist who worked in animation, comic strips and comic books. An Emmy-nominated television comedy writer and story editor, he had numerous credits as a TV scripter, including Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Three's Company, The Carol Burnett Show and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Among his work for feature films, he was a co-screenwriter of Yellow Submarine (1968). In 2004, the Animation Writers Caucus of the Writers Guild gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Peter Maddocks is an English cartoonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonah Falcon</span> American actor and television presenter (born 1970)

Jonah Adam Cardeli Falcon is an American actor and television presenter. He came to international attention in 1999 because of his claim that he has the largest penis in the world, which he claims is 13.5 inches (34 cm) long when erect; Falcon has not authorized or permitted independent verification of this figure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popeye</span> Fictional character

Popeye the Sailor is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar. The character first appeared on January 17, 1929, in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre. The strip was in its tenth year when Popeye made his debut, but the one-eyed sailor quickly became the lead character, and Thimble Theatre became one of King Features' most popular properties during the 1930s. Following Segar's death in 1938, Thimble Theatre was continued by several writers and artists, most notably Segar's assistant Bud Sagendorf. The strip continues to appear in first-run installments on Sundays, written and drawn by R. K. Milholland. The daily strips are reprints of old Sagendorf stories.

Jessica Rabbit is a fictional character in the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? and its film adaptation, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. She is depicted as the human toon wife of Roger Rabbit in various Roger Rabbit media. Jessica is renowned as one of the best-known sex symbols in animation. She is remembered for the line: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."

Paula Coughlin is a former lieutenant and naval aviator in the United States Navy. She is a victim who played a role in opening investigations into what was known as the Tailhook scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sailor tattoos</span> Nautical tradition of body art

Sailor tattoos are traditions of tattooing among sailors, including images with symbolic meanings. These practices date back to at least the 16th century among European sailors, and since colonial times among American sailors. People participating in these traditions have included military service members in national navies, seafarers in whaling and fishing fleets, and civilian mariners on merchant ships and research vessels. Sailor tattoos have served as protective talismans in sailors' superstitions, records of important experiences, markers of identity, and means of self-expression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YesAllWomen</span> Online feminist movement

#YesAllWomen is a Twitter hashtag and social media campaign in which users share examples or stories of misogyny and violence against women. First used in online conversations about misogyny following the 2014 Isla Vista killings, the hashtag was popular in May 2014, and was created partly in response to the Twitter hashtag #NotAllMen. #YesAllWomen reflected a grassroots campaign in which women shared their personal stories about harassment and discrimination. The campaign attempted to raise awareness of sexism that women experience, often from people they know.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass sexual assault in Egypt</span> Sexual assault of many women in Egypt

The mass sexual assault of women in public has been documented in Egypt since 2005, when Egyptian security forces and their agents were accused of using it as a weapon against female protesters during a political demonstration in Tahrir Square, Cairo on 25 May. The behavior spread, and by 2012 sexual assault by crowds of young men was seen at protests and festivals in Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MeToo movement</span> Social movement against sexual abuse and harassment

#MeToo is a social movement and awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in 2006, on Myspace, by sexual assault survivor and activist Tarana Burke. The hashtag #MeToo was used starting in 2017 as a way to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem. "Me Too" empowers those who have been sexually assaulted through empathy, solidarity, and strength in numbers, by visibly demonstrating how many have experienced sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual harassment in the military</span> Sexual misconduct in the armed forces

Sexual harassment in the military is unwanted sexual behaviour experienced as threatening, offensive, or otherwise upsetting, which occurs in a military setting.

References

  1. "Wolf-whistling is just the start – harassment is not harmless". The Guardian . March 8, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  2. "Wolf-whistling "could be made illegal" under new European convention". The Daily Telegraph. March 8, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  3. "'Wolf-whistling isn't fun, it's humiliating': Hollaback! campaign aims to end street harassment". Hull Daily Mail. June 17, 2014. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  4. Barr, Sabrina (18 October 2018). "The history of wolf-whistling and why it could be banned". The Independent. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  5. Pat Wallace (July 23, 1943). "Talk of the Town". The Vancouver Sun. p. 10. we met the battery of gibes and wolf whistles with what we pretended was complete unconcern
  6. "And not one face at the windows". Daily Express. London. 23 June 1949. ... and not even the faintest suspicion of a "wolf" whistle!
  7. "What a woman!". Daily Express. London. 15 February 1950. And a lone wolf whistle came from the back.
  8. Edwards, Adam. "You just put your lips together and wolf whistle". Daily Express . 4 August 2011.
  9. Barrett, Grant. "Wolf Whistle". (Audio podcast, requires SoundCloud player for access.) A Way with Words . 11 December 2015.
  10. United States Navy Band, Boatswain's Calls , retrieved 2017-10-30
  11. "How to Whistle With Your Fingers". The Art of Manliness. April 8, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2017.