Construction Catcalls

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A scene used countless times in media: Some construction workers are on their lunch break, when all of a sudden a sexy lady struts by the site. Cue the Wolf Whistling and sexual comments.

Commonly subverted nowadays by having the workers comment on something else entirely.

Examples of Construction Catcalls include:

Advertising

  • Inverted in an Arby's commercial, where they say nothing after a couple of ladies walk by, while a man holding a bag of Arby's food gets several catcalls such as "Can I get some fries with that shake?".
  • Inverted in a famous commercial for Diet Coke, with a bunch of ladies ogling a construction worker on his lunch break.

Live-Action Film

  • Featured prominently in Microwave Massacre, due to the main character being a construction worker.

Literature

  • In Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, when Bridget goes to meet her friends, she walks past a construction site. She prepares herself for "lewd catcalls and embarrassing remarks" then feels a "complete arse" for not getting any. On her way back, she walks past them again, and hears a "huge cacophony of appreciative noises". When she turns around to give them a filthy look, she founds out that they're all looking the other way, and one of them had just thrown a brick through the window of a car.
  • Gender Flipped in Robert Merle's novel The Virility Factor, where, after Gendercide killed most of the men in the world, the male protagonist has to deal with catcalling female construction workers, who eventually assult him sexually.

Live Action TV

  • Used in an episode of The Thin Blue Line, where the woman is a police officer and winds up getting so irritated she arrests the lot of them for harrassment.
  • On season 7 of Diff'rent Strokes, Mr. Drummond's new wife makes fun of him going out to a construction site (he's dressed as a construction worker), saying he'll be catcalling "Hey, chickie baby!". It made the opening credits montage.
  • On one episode of Malcolm in the Middle, one student in Malcolm's school gets in trouble for writing a short story about a woman who dies in a hit and run accident after failing to heed one construction worker's warning of the oncoming vehicle, since she learned to ignore their catcalls. It's all because of one catcall that Malcolm failed to remove or censor, and as punishment, the principal cancels all extracurricular activities.
  • Jerry discusses this in his stand-up act in the Seinfeld pilot, when he talks about how men have no idea what women want. "Men know what men want, what do we want? We want women, that's it! It's the only thing we know for sure, it really is: we want women. How do we get them? Oh, we don't know 'bout that, we don't know. The next step after that we have no idea. This is why you see men honking car-horns, yelling from construction sites. These are the best ideas we've had so far."
  • In the Sex and the City episode "The Drought", Miranda is frustrated because she hasn't had sex for months. Eventually, she confronts a catcalling construction worker:

Worker: Where are you goin', doll? I got what you want. I got what you need.
Miranda: You talking to me?
Worker: We got a live one, boys.
Miranda: You got what I want? You got what I need? Well, what I want is to get laid. What I need is to get laid. I need is to get laid!
Worker: Take it easy, lady. I'm married.
Miranda: All talk and no action, huh?

  • On an episode of Dinosaurs, Earl's friend Roy Hess begins leering at a dino lady with a fully developed tail while on his lunch break.
  • In Green Wing Joanne walks back and forth past a group of workers, trying to grab their attention, each time acting more and more "sexy". She decides to flash them in the end.
  • On Get A Life, Chris starts hanging out with construction workers and learning their ways - as they catcall ladies walking by, he chimes in to one "Yeah! Eat that cheese, lady!" She walks up to him and knees him in the groin, to the great amusement of the others.

Web Comics

  • This happens in this Palindramas strip. Except that, in order to make it a palindrome, the construction workers have to be numbers.

Web Original

Western Animation

  • On The Simpsons episode "Today I Am a Clown", Homer gains a new talk show. We see some workers watching the show while on break, and as a lady walks by the site, one worker proceeds to hit on her. However, he's just recommending Homer's show.
  • On Family Guy, Peter once mentioned working as a construction worker in a Manatee Gag, but could never get the catcalls right, telling one woman "You suck!".
  • On Transformers Animated the Constructicons like to do the nearest Transforming Mecha equivalent by catcalling at hot sportscars
  • On King of the Hill episode "Square-Footed Monster" which is about Ted Wassonasong building a mansion within the main characters' block, Bobby and Joseph hang out with the construction workers and all making catcalls to a woman passing by.
  • My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, "Sonic Rainboom" has a scene where some pegasus construction workers gawp at Rarity's magically-granted butterfly wings.
  • Parodied in an episode of Cow and Chicken, where Chicken sees some female construction workers whistling at a muscular guy.

Real Life

  • Very much a case of Truth in Television, and it's far from limited to construction workers. Increasingly this behavior is considered a variety of sexual harassment.