AMA Computer College Santa Cruz Campus

Senior High School Department

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Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter provides an overview of the background of the study,

conceptual and theoretical framework, statement of the problem, hypothesis,

significance of the study, scope and limitation, and definition of terms.

Introduction

In our times, women were mostly being victimized by catcalling. Many

people are experiencing street harassment regardless their sex, age, physical

appearance, and even if walking with a partner or not. Catcalling is identified

as whistling to women as well as men, asking for mobile number in a wrong

way giving complements o a stranger passing by in a sexual manner, and so

on. This became one of the issued topics faced by different countries around

the globe. Aside from being sexually harassed, catcalling may cause various

types of diseases either psychologically of physically.

Background of the study

Violence againts women and their children is one of the problems that

experienced by the millions of women all over the world. The term violence

defined as the unlawful exercise of physical force or intimidations by the

exhibition of such force. The mission of the VAWC is to strive to eliminate

physical, sexual, emotional, and other form of violence against women and
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their children and the power imbalances that permit them. VAWC strive to

accomplish the mission through multidisciplinary research education and

training that impacts communities’ policies in the New Jersey, USA and

throughout the world (World Health Organization, 2016).

Conceptual Framework

The researchers provided a conceptual framework which included the

dependent and independent variables used to find out the impact of catcalling

in Grade 12 ZO HUMSS as perceived by the students of AMA Sta. Cruz,

Laguna.

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

 Nervous
 Catcalling  Uncomfortable

 Scared

 Avoid Communication

Frame 1 Frame 2

Figure 1. Research Paradigm of the Study

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Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework of the study. Frame 1

consist of the Independent Variable that describe Catcalling. On the other

hand, frame 2 contains the Dependent Variable shows the nervous,

uncomfortable, scared and avoid communication of the students. Overall, the

Independent and Dependent Variable has a straight line connecting these two

variables meaning, they have a significant relationship.

Theoretical Framework

According to Camila Sofia (2019) Catcalling is a controversial topic.

The arguments are divided into two camps, with some thinking such behavior

is a compliment and others thinking it’s sexual harassment. Many men will

claim that they are just being nice, while women can’t help but feel attacked.

Sexual harassment can happen anywhere and might take different

approaches; however, the labeling of sexual harassment differs among

individuals and can be influenced by gender, gender roles, and even

masculinity. While any person can experience catcalling or sexual

harassment, it is highly under-reported and generally directed towards

women. Magley and Shupe (2015) note that two-thirds of women in the

military have experienced some sort of sexual harassment, though very few

decide to report it. Although catcalling can be found almost everywhere,

attitudes towards catcalling seem to vary from person to person. A study by

Ferrer-Pérez and Bosch-Fiol (2015) indicates that labeling something as

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“sexual harassment” is not clear-cut. Students at a Spanish university were

given an exam where they were given different scenarios and asked if they

considered them to be sexual harassment. Especially notable were the

differences between women and men in judging whether or not a behavior

was deemed harassment. For example, men were more likely to interpret a

remark like “Hi beautiful, can I buy you a drink?” as a benign statement, while

women were more likely to perceive it as a catcall with sexualized

undertones.

Catcalling can be understood through theories of linguistic politeness.

Brown and Levinson (1987) suggest that everyone has both ‘positive face’

and ‘negative face’. ‘Face’ is the public self-image that every person tries to

protect. Positive face is “the positive self-image or personality claimed by

interactants,” while negative face is “one’s desire that [their] actions be

unimpeded by others.” Catcalling can be intimidating, and can threaten both

positive and negative face. However, many people do not see catcalling as

invading the other person’s privacy. On the topic of piropos (a Spanish term

for catcalling), Bailey (2018) writes, “At another level, however, street remarks

impose intimacy on passing strangers, thus flouting the normative

conventions for interaction through which we manage social and personal risk

and establish trust” (p. 2). Who would want to have someone you’ve never

seen before approaching you randomly in the street and acting as if they’ve

known you forever, as if they had a connection with you? I would venture to
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say that the majority of people would respond by saying no. Interestingly,

most men doing the catcalling expect the women to react a certain way. They

want to capture their attention and get a reaction out of them. Yet women, for

the most part, feel intimidated and harassed. Unfortunately, even approaching

someone in the street and saying, “Hey beautiful” (Bailey 2017, p. 7) is an

example of threatening one’s negative face. The women in these videos are

forced to respond to meet expectations of politeness, yet their negative faces

are being completely attacked. It’s a smart strategy to threaten one’s negative

face in catcalling: the addressee is under pressure to perform to a speaker

who is placing her in a subordinate position.

According to a survey conducted by the United Nations Entity for

Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, a staggering 99 percent

of Egyptian women surveyed said they had experienced some form of sexual

harassment. Examining how the act of sexual harassment is perceived by

male harassers, Hani Henry, associate professor of psychology and chair of

the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Egyptology,

uses feminist theory to provide a deeper understanding of sexual harassment,

looking at it as sexist – rather than a sexual – act. “Feminist theory posits that

sexual harassment should be treated as a sexist act that aims to subjugate

and disempower women, and punish their efforts to compete with men over

jobs and status,” said Henry. “This theory challenges the idea that sexual

harassment is a sexual act and invites scholars to see it from a gender-based

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angle that reflects male dominance and women's subordination, which are

constantly condoned by society.” In his recently published paper titled “Sexual

Harassment in the Egyptian Streets: Feminist Theory Revisited,” Henry is

guided by feminist theory explanations of sexual harassment to provide a

deeper understanding of this problem and the sociocultural factors that

contribute to it.

Statement of the Problem

This study focuses on The Impact of Catcalling in Grade 12 CO

HUMSS as perceived by the students of AMA Sta. Cruz, Laguna. This

research aims to answer the questions:

1. What is the profile of the students in AMA Sta. Cruz, Laguna in terms of:

1.1 Age

1.2 Gender

2. The level of impact of catcalling in Grade 12 CO HUMSS based on:

2.1 Attitude

2.2 Peers

3. Is there any significant difference between the profile of the students of

AMA Sta. Cruz, Laguna and the level of impact of catcalling.

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Hypothesis

There is no significance difference existing between the profile of the

students and the impact of catcalling.

Significance of the Study

This study focuses on The Impact of Catcalling in Grade 12 ZO

HUMSS. The researcher conducted to intend to identify the impact of

catcalling to the people nowadays. The significant of this study are the

following:

Teenagers. They may use this paper to also guide them and inform what the

impact of catcalling to the people is.

Future Researchers. This research may help the future researchers to use it

for their future reference.

Scope and Limitation

The study is conducted to determine the impact of catcalling in Grade

12 ZO HUMSS as perceived by the students of AMA Sta. Cruz, Laguna

randomly chosen students who are studying in AMA Sta. Cruz, Laguna were

used as a respondent in conducting survey.

Definition of Terms
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To establish a clearer understanding and consistency about the study

between the researchers and the readers, the following terms are defined the

way they are used in the study to ensure that they were generally understood.

Catcalling. Form of sexual harassment, because whistling, shouting and

comments on someone physical appearance in public are not compliments.

Students of Ama Sta. Cruz Laguna. It refers t .the respondents of the study

which the researcher selects for their study.