Woman Shares The Hilarious Hack She Uses To Fend Off Men Who Catcall Her On The Street
Her tactic has encouraged other women to try it out.
@berridaph / TikTok For women navigating their day-to-day lives, the unwanted attention from catcallers is an unfortunate reality.
One woman named Daphne Berry shared with her followers the funny and quick-witted hack that she uses to stun men who try and catcall her while she's walking around on the street.
She pretends that any man who catcalls her on the street is actually homeless.
In Berry's video, she shared the witty hack that she tends to use against men who try and catcall her on the street — and it's pretending that they're homeless and trying to panhandle for money. She recounted a recent incident where she used the tactic, which ended up working out in her favor.
"This man just catcalled me at the front of a construction site, and so I yelled back at him, 'Sorry, I don't have any change!'" Berry explained. She claimed that after replying, all of the other men at the construction site immediately began laughing and poking fun at the guy who had tried to catcall Berry.
"The way that all the men on the construction site started laughing at him and pointing at him. It's that simple... 'sorry, I don't have any change.'"
In the comments, other women praised Berry's methods and even admitted that they might try it out for themselves the next time a man tries to approach them with unwanted romantic advances. However, other women even shared their own version of this tactic, and what they say to catcallers.
"'Sorry, I can't bring home any more stray dogs!' is one of my favorites," one TikTok user shared.
Another user added, "One of my favorite ones is telling them to say something funny when they tell me to smile. They always look weirdly confused."
"Much better than my, 'Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met?' And, 'You’re acting very familiar but I don’t remember you,'" a third user said.
Unfortunately, a large number of women face street harassment from men on a daily basis.
According to a survey by Stop Street Harassment, it was found that 65% of all women had experienced street harassment. Among all women, 23% had been sexually touched, 20% had been followed, and 9% had been forced to do something sexual.
For men, the numbers were much lower, with 25% admitting they have been harassed on the street. A higher percentage of LGBTQ+ men reported this compared to heterosexual men, and their most common form of harassment was homophobic or transphobic slurs (9%).
While many women found Berry's tactic to be hilarious and admitted they would start using it, there were also a number of women who pointed out that engaging with catcallers can result in a violent outcome. Unfortunately, this is another reality that women have to consistently think about.
There are an outstanding number of women who have been killed or violently hurt because they have either completely ignored a man's unwanted romantic advances, or have tried to stick up for themselves, only to meet a devastating fate.
The frightening statistics and shared traumatic experiences that many women have are some of the reasons why most women have legitimate fears about simply existing in the outside world.
Carrying keys between our fingers, not listening to music on our walk home whenever it gets dark, and taking busy streets to hopefully prevent harassment or violence are just some of the grim precautions that women are told throughout our lives.
The unfortunate truth is that women often find themselves caught in a delicate balance, trying to navigate their surroundings while grappling with the legitimate fear of violence.
Many of these cautionary measures, including Berry's tactic, that women take to protect themselves serve as a stark reminder of this ongoing struggle for both safety and respect, and the simple reality that all women want is to exist without fear and apprehension.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.