In these weeks a word rages on the net: CATCALLING o CAT-CALLING.

It is, unfortunately, the last of the English terms that have come to the fore to identify a certain type of harassment addressed, in the vast majority of cases, to women. Specifically, it refers to the whistles and unpleasant comments that men direct to women when they walk down the street.

The term, cited from the end of March also by the Accademia Della Crusca, is not a neologism; in fact, a first attestation of it with the meaning it has today seems to date back to 1956, when the term was used by an American newspaper. In the 18th century it had mostly the meaning of “cry, annoying lament, lament-like sound” and indicated the act of whistling unwelcome artists or bad performances. Also from the same century there is a trace of the original meaning of plaintive sound that cats do at night”.

In Italy, “catcalling” is not yet a crime, while in other countries such as France, some American states and Perù, it already is.

“Catcalling” is accompanied, unfortunately, by many other English terms that refer to offensive or disparaging behaviors towards, above all, women and that the Anglo-Saxon language has been able to summarize in a single word, while in Italian we must use periphrasis, for example:

SLUT-SHAMING

It indicates the act of judging a woman by addressing her as a “bad girl”, because of her habits or behaviors, which are perceived as distant from a presumed reference rule. For example, when a woman in provocative clothes is automatically pointed out as having easy virtue. The term comes from the union of the existent words “slut”+”shaming”.

MANSHUSH

“Manshush” is when a man tries to silence a woman because he feels his authority is being challenged in some way by what she is saying. This often happens when the man is actually wrong, but he doesn’t want to admit it. The term comes from “man”+”hush”.

HEPEATING

An improper behavior of a man towards a woman, especially in the workplace. It happens when a man proposes the same idea that a woman previously proposed without it being taken into consideration, but – once proposed again by the man – it gets everyone’s approval. The term comes from a sort of merge between “he” + “repeating”.

Unfortunately, this is only a small part of the terms, not just in English!, which indicate different types of harassment and sexist behavior towards women.

In this regard, the result achieved by the Italian PR Maria Beatrice Giovanardi, who has been living in London for years, is to be applauded. Thanks to a petition she launched on Change.org, the prestigious English language vocabulary Oxford Dictionary has revised the entry “woman”, correcting or eliminating many sexist terms presented as synonyms of woman in the dictionary. In fact, previously, under the entry “woman”, as simple synonyms it was possible to find terms such as prostitute, bitch, mare, etc. Now sexist or offensive terms are correctly labeled as such!

Whether it’s women, or men, always wanting to use an English term, RESPECT, is the only word that makes sense!

Note on copyright: the image at the head of the article is a frame from the film “Malèna” by Giuseppe Tornatore (Miramax), all rights are reserved.