If you are female and have ever been outside, chances are that you’ve come across them: nasty men who “just want to say hello”. These are guys who will shout at you down the street or honk as they drive past. It’s heinous, annoying and impossible to argue about. These are men who don’t understand how anyone could ever not want to talk to them, or receive a “compliment”. But at the beginning of November, TWiB! founder and recent twitter phenomenon Elon James White has come up with a wonderful way to turn this street stupidity on its head: with the hashtag #DudesGreetingDudes.
How it started
Dudes. If you feel society has lost it’s decency, let’s bring it back. Let’s start the #DudesGreetingDudes movement! Say hi to each other!
— Elon James White (@elonjames) November 2, 2014
These women don’t get it. Y’all just want to say hi. What’s wrong with hi?!?! So let’s just leave them out completely. #DudesGreetingDudes
— Elon James White (@elonjames) November 2, 2014
The Women will soon realize what they missed out on BUT IT’LL BE TOO LATE. Let the women walk in silence. SORRY LADIES. #DudesGreetingDudes
— Elon James White (@elonjames) November 2, 2014
The idea behind #DudesGreetingDudes is simple: if women don’t appreciate being cat-called, maybe men will.
#DudesGreetingDudes: Because it’s not about sex or nothing. We just wanna say hi.
— Elon James White (@elonjames) November 2, 2014
Because of course, as cat-callers will tell you, they “just want to talk”. Obviously cat-calling isn’t in any way a degrading and aggressive way of stating that they want to have sex with you. Where on earth did you get that idea?
#DudesGreetingDudes: Politeness at it’s finest. Let’s show the women what they have missed out on with their “safety” concerns. MEH.
— Elon James White (@elonjames) November 2, 2014
Hilarity ensues
But if you aren’t convinced yet, here’s a sample of some of the best #DudesGreetingDudes tweets out there:
“Listen, my boys and I watched you when you came out of the train. Your kicks is bangin’ son. Can i give you my number?” #DudesGreetingDudes
— Elon James White (@elonjames) November 2, 2014
Nice kicks bro. …Bro, I said nice kicks! Hey bro, can’t take a compliment? Dem kicks probably knockoffs anyway… #DudesGreetingDudes
— oibob (@oibob) November 6, 2014
“You look so exotic, bro. Can I touch your hair?” #DudesGreetingDudes
— middleclasstool (@middleclasstool) November 5, 2014
“Yo son, God bless you. I mean damn God Bless yo mama too…” #DudesGreetingDudes
— Elon James White (@elonjames) November 2, 2014
“Say bruh…where you get that hoodie at? You look real warm and toasty in it. Can I feel it?” #dudesgreetingdudes
— Camurai Black (@BlackTonyBlair) November 5, 2014
“Hey, bro. Can I walk with you for a minute? No? You think you’re too good for me?” #dudesgreetingdudes
— Jacqueline Campbell (@JBryantCampbell) November 5, 2014
Hashtag sparks more serious debate
Now there have been discussions as to whether this campaign, in attempting to call out sexists, is actually homophobic. I don’t think so: the idea behind #DudesGreetingDudes is to make cat-callers who verbally abuse women realise how inappropriate it is.
Saw a catcaller get rejected so I complimented his shirt to make him feel better him:”wtf bro? I dont know u” ah well #DudesGreetingDudes
— Jean-Paul Mestres (@notjp) November 7, 2014
If men who are attracted to men were to cat-call other men in this way, it would be just as inappropriate!
Actually. allegation that #DudesGreetingDudes is homophobic makes me think all those “innocent” greetings ARE about sexualization!
— Brienne of Snarth (@femme_esq) November 5, 2014
And actual cat-callers’ aggressive response to being jokingly cat-called in this way just shows their ingrained homophobia, not the other way around.
Best hashtag on Twitter right now: #DudesGreetingDudes Picture related. pic.twitter.com/BPdI3Zxugu
— Anna Jenelius (@TheAnaka) November 4, 2014
Mr White responded gracefully to these concerns nonetheless.
I’m not mad at folks who are sensitive about this. The LGBTQ community gets mocked a lot. But that is not the point of #DudesGreetingDudes
— Elon James White (@elonjames) November 5, 2014
We here at Kettle would love to hear your opinions on the subject. Is #DudesGreetingDudes homophobic? Is it a good way to combat the plague of cat-callers on our streets?
