Former reality star Domenica Calarco has called out the annoying act women are still dealing with in 2023, and people are still defending it.
Calarco posted a TikTok, where she was walking down the street in Sydney’s Ashfield, and her day was interrupted by unwanted attention.
“Another day, another random old man with the most obscure mating call,” she wrote.
She said that an older man looked her up and down, winked at her, and then made a sound of approval with his tongue.
“Excuse me, sir? What is happening in this world? This is what I’m dressed in, by the way, and I have oil stains on my shirt,” she vented.
The clip has now amassed 80,000 views, and the comment section isn’t filled with people calling the man’s behavior out but instead defending it.
Someone commented that she should see it as a compliment because it’s nice to be “liked.”
Another claimed the man was probably just being “nice” and sarcastically commented that they felt sorry for her because she’d had to endure someone seeing her as “attractive.”
One told her she needed to “chill out,” and another said she could take it as a “friendly gesture” and claimed it was just another version of “G’day.”
Yep, a man looking a woman up and down in a way that has made her uncomfortable should be brushed off as some Aussie version of hello.
People also implied that she deserved unwanted attention because she happens to have an OnlyFans account as if that gives people a free pass to make her uncomfortable.
Psychologist Carly Dober said catcalling shouldn’t just be shrugged off because it has real consequences and can be very upsetting for women.
“Many women feel annoyed because they are just trying to get through their day and feel like they’ve been sexualized, which can also make them feel quite uncomfortable and unsafe, and some women, unfortunately, feel like they are in danger because of the themes or the specifics of what the cat callers are saying,” she explained.
Dober said men shouldn’t be doing it because they have no idea how it’ll impact the woman they are interacting with.
“I would caution that men refrain from this and call out their friends or workmates if they are doing it, as you never know how this might impact someone and what kind of day they’ve had.”
Calarco is no stranger to getting unwanted attention.
Famously, when she was on season 9 of Nine’s Married at Fight Sight, she was outed for running an OnlyFans account by her co-star Olivia Frazer.
The drama didn’t just play out on the show but also impacted how Calacro was able to move through the world.
“People were shouting at me from their cars at one point when it was going to air; screaming ‘I’ve seen your ass etc’,” she told news.com.au
She said people would go up to her and even though she has an “outgoing” personality, it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
“I still have feelings. And my feelings were hurt… a lot. And I’m still healing,” she said in 2022.