Epidemic?

So, I'm an average looking woman. I'm about five seven, weigh just what the Wii fit says I should, have medium-length dark hair with gray sprinkled throughout, dark eyes, and glasses. I don't wear revealing clothing and I don't really have an unusual clothing style. Small children don't recoil when I am near, but neither does the paparazzi attack me, mistaking me for that famous Brazilian supermodel.

So imagine my continued surprise at the number of wolf whistles I receive while walking around my fair city. It happens downtown quite a bit, but I just chalk it up to the downtown vibe. But today, as I was waiting at the bus stop, not two blocks from where I live, two men drove by in a pickup, whistled at me, and yelled out a semi-lewd, unimaginative proposition. *sigh*

I wonder what the actual beautiful people have to deal with. If the Julia Roberts lookalike is walking down the streets of an average midwestern city, does she deal with more than this? Maybe not just the whistles, but also the oglers and the gropers? Do I have to start feeling sorry for the pretty people?

Biker Boy hypothesizes that people who whistle/yell out at pedestrians are equal opportunity asshats and that the pretty people don't get it any more than I do. He also has a theory about how I look "approachable" and that might have something to do with it. I have another friend (who is from a small town, so I don't know how she would even know) hypothesizes that the people who do this actually don't do it to the pretty people because they know they don't have a chance with them, but with the average looking woman in the Old Navy tank top and jeans, it's an entirely different story.

I don't know. I guess I'm just puzzled by the phenomenon. I also wonder if I should do something more defiant than ignore it or pretend it's aimed at someone else. It's hard because as they are usually in a motorized vehicle and I am a pedestrian, there's a limited time frame for a reaction. Do I stare at them? Do I flick them off? Do I curl up on the sidewalk in utter shame and embarrassment?

Do you remember the Sex and the City episode where Miranda gets up in the faces of the construction workers who have been making her uncomfortable with similar type behaviors and they FREAK out when she does? I wonder if that would happen if I showed reaction?

And why are they doing this? Do they think it's flattering? Do they think that they will score with this method? Has it ever earned them a second glance, let alone a date?

The confusion stands.