History Main / ConstructionCatCalls

* Subverted 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?".

* Parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TitvIOX7894 this]] ''Series/MadTV'' sketch where the construction workers in question pay no attention to the women attempting to be catcalled.

* [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica South African]] singers Appel and Bok van Blerk parodies this theme in the video comedy song ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL9DzrmORGs Limoene]]''. [[note]]"Oranges"[[/note]].[[note]]Not what you think. In Afrikaans, the word ''lemons'' is ''suurlimoene'' - "sour oranges"[[/note]] In the video, van Blerk plays one of two [[LowerClassLout zef]] delivery drivers, who make a nuisance of themselves while driving by leaning out of the windows and leering at passing women. They deliver to a greengrocers' run by a lady called Sally, who loses patience with their loutish attitude and reaches for a very big rifle.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

-->'''Lady Gorilla:''' (angrily shaking her fist) KNOCK IT OFF! What are you, a bunch of HUMANS?!\\
'''Construction Gorilla:''' (offended) Hey! Who are you callin' a human?!

* Parodied in Creator/MondoMedia's ''Miss Andry''. In the titular heroine's [[DarkAndTroubledPast tragic superhero origin story]], two construction workers holler at a young Miss Andry's mother, ending up too DistractedByTheSexy and causing an accident, killing the mother and one construction worker. The other construction worker gets radiation spilled on him in the same accident, becoming a mutant feline supervillain named [[PunnyName CatCall]], who can no longer go two seconds without catcalling and [[TheHyena laughing at his own jokes]].

* ''[[WebAnimation/ASDFMovie asdfmovie11]]'' has this golden scene:

* The [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ash-pedreiro-dat-ash Ash Pedreiro]] [[MemeticMutation meme]] is named after the Portuguese word for "bricklayer", and he makes {{Anime/Pokemon}}-related {{Double Entendre}}s, such as, "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20120316200836/http://legacy-cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/062011/dat-ash-pikachu.png Ay gurl, take them clothes off so I can get a Pikachu]]". (this owes to how in Brazil, this trope happens in a way that led to the expression "[[TerriblePickUpLines bricklayer pick-up lines]]")

-->'''Lady Gorilla:''' (angrily shaking her fist) KNOCK IT OFF! What are you, a bunch of HUMANS?!
-->'''Construction Gorilla:''' (offended) Hey! Who are you callin' a human?!

* On ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', the Constructicons like to do the nearest TransformingMecha equivalent by catcalling at hot sportscars

* [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica South African]] singer Bok van Blerk parodies this theme in the video comedy song ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL9DzrmORGs Appel, Limoene]]''. [[note]]"Apples and Oranges"[[/note]]. In the video, van Blerk plays one of two [[LowerClassLout zef]] delivery drivers, who make a nuisance of themselves while driving by leaning out of the windows and leering at passing women. They deliver to a greengrocers' run by a lady called Sally, who loses patience with their loutish attitude and reaches for a very big rifle.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has this happen in the first few pages of Title Pending. The commentary makes it clear that the stereotypical depiction was completely intentional.

* Subverted and parodied in ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' in one of Dave Berg's "The Lighter Side of..." strips. Two women angrily look back at a construction site they passed and complain that when they walked by, they [[AllWomenAreLustful did not hear one catcall or lewd comment]].

* Dom Joly's ''Series/TriggerHappyTV'' features a bunch of such construction workers hanging out on a scaffolding shouting dirty remarks at a woman. The funny bit is that the workers are all ''[[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys gorillas]]''.

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}''; one PaperThinDisguise used by the G-Men of the MilkmanConspiracy level is that of a construction worker and he says, "Look at that woman's breasts. They're large."

->''"Why do builders think that works? As if the woman's going to turn around and be like, "Oh! My future lies with him!! And his huge, round tanned belly!"?"''

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 Whistle}}s and sexual comments, which will ''way'' more often result in disgust or annoyance rather than delight from the woman. Very often PlayedForLaughs since it's a quite easy way to incur some situational comedy.

* In ''Film/DriveACrookedRoad'', the mechanics' break area at the garage where Eddie works sits slightly below street level, and has large glass window that allow them to see the women passing by on the sidewalk; especially their legs. Any time an attractive woman passes, their will be a barrage of catcalls and lewd comments from the mechanics. Eddie never joins in on the catcalling which earns him ribbing from his workmates.

* Used in an ''Series/ACurrentAffair'' segment on a weight loss treatment: reporter Brady Halls stated that not so long ago, this would never have happened to the women in question. ''Series/TheChasersWarOnEverything'' called them out for basically sending the message, "Get dieting now, ladies, here's your chance to be wolf-whistled by seedy men!"

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': In the episode "Dirty Magazine", Malcolm (the editor of the school's literary magazine) publishes a beautiful 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 usual catcalls. Unfortunately, Malcolm gets in trouble because of one catcall filled with obscenities that he refused to remove or censor, and as punishment, the principal cancels all extracurricular activities until Malcolm removes the story. Malcolm ''[[ExactWords does]]'' get rid of the story from the magazine... by publishing the story himself 20 feet outside of school grounds [[LoopholeAbuse as required by the law]].

* Jerry discusses this in his stand-up act in the ''Series/{{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."

* Used in an episode of ''Series/TheThinBlueLine'', where the woman is Sergeant Patricia Dawkins and winds up getting so irritated she arrests the lot of them for harrassment.

* Creator/EddieIzzard is perplexed as to why construction workers do this, and considers what would happen if the woman actually approached them.

** On 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.
** Discussed in the episode "Brother From Another Series". Sideshow Bob is given a construction job on a dam by his brother, and sarcastically asks if it will be his job to lead the "hooting". "Oh, yah! Shake it, madame! Capital knockers!"

* In ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'', when [[CampGay Titus]] and [[StraightGay Mikey]] go to a club, Mikey tries to flirt with the bouncer to get in. His line, "Hey, are you a high chair? 'Cause I wanna put a baby in you", does not succeed.

* In ''Series/HarryAndPaul'', Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield play the Posh Scaffolders, who alternate between leering Cockney perverts when women pass underneath and highly-cultured posh men in the absence of those women. Eventually, RealityEnsues when one woman calls them out for their crudeness and they're just as unhappy as she is, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality apparently thinking that being insulting to women from scaffolding is just their way of being friendly]].

While this behavior is sadly TruthInTelevision (and even in some jurisdictions is considered as a form of sexual harassment or even assault), it's probably not as common in RealLife as it is in fiction.

* On one episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', 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.

While this behavior is sadly TruthInTelevision (and even in some jurisdictions is considered as a form of sexual harassment or even assault), it's probably not as common in RealLife as it is in fiction. Schemes such as the Considerate Constructors Scheme in the UK mean that offenders can get “red carded” for offences and unable to work for any contractor who’s a member of the scheme and while there isn’t an equivalent nationwide scheme in the US, employers are very sensitive to bad publicity and tend to have their own internal codes and discipline or fire offenders, meaning this is rapidly becoming a DiscreditedTrope in real life, at least in modern countries.

While this behavior is sadly TruthInTelevision (and even in some jurisdictions is considered as a form of sexual harassment or even assault), it's probably not as common in RealLife as it is in fiction. Schemes such as the Considerate Constructors Scheme in the UK mean that offenders can get “red carded” for offences and unable to work for any contractor who’s a member of the scheme and while there isn’t an equivalent nationwide scheme in the US, employers are very sensitive to bad publicity and tend to have their own internal codes and discipline or fire offenders.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' opens with this. Beavis and Butt-Head admire their ability to talk to women.

While this behavior is sadly TruthInTelevision (and even in some jurisdictions is considered as a form of sexual harassment or even assault), it's probably not as common in RealLife as it is in fiction.

* One episode of ''Series/MadAboutYou'' has a Jamie reduced to a TowelOfModesty going by a construction site and hearing "Hey mama! Nice cookies", which angers her and leads to an angry tirade... before she notices the mother of one of the workers, who brought cookies for the whole group.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

* Featured prominently in ''Microwave Massacre'', due to the main character being a construction worker.
* The 1980 film ''Hardhat and Legs'' has the protagonists first noticing each other this way.

* In ''Film/{{Poltergeist|1982}}'', the construction workers for the new pool, catcall the oldest daughter Dana, [[FlippingTheBird she just flips at them]].

* Used in an episode of ''Series/TheThinBlueLine'', where the woman is Sergeant Patricia Dawkins and winds up getting so irritated she arrests the lot of them for harrassment.

* In ''Series/GreenWing'', 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 ''Series/GetALife'', 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 [[GroinAttack knees him in the groin]], to the great amusement of the others.
* Used in an ''A Current Affair'' segment on a weight loss treatment: reporter Brady Halls stated that not so long ago, this would never have happened to the women in question. ''Series/TheChasersWarOnEverything'' called them out for basically sending the message, "Get dieting now, ladies, here's your chance to be wolf-whistled by seedy men!"
* On ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', Paige is dressed up and given a tray of baked goods in order to distract a group of construction workers. Piper makes a point of undoing an extra button on her blouse before sending her out.
* Doug tries to coerce some workers into doing this to Carrie on ''Series/TheKingOfQueens''.
* Lily Tomlin leads a seminar on how to GenderFlip the activity in a season 1 sketch of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', with Creator/DanAykroyd as the target.
** [[http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/construction-workers/n27705 Another sketch]] had a bunch of construction workers doing this, but Creator/DanielCraig's comments were all incredibly bizarre. His apparent FreudianExcuse is that his father, also a construction worker, was killed by a woman he catcalled at.
* One episode of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' has Liz get accousted by a roadside worker, whose vulgar remarks are covered up by the sound of a jackhammer. Liz's response is also covered, except for when she says "[[BleepDammit Infected penis!]]"
* An ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' episode has Gloria experiencing this, but things take a darker turn when the catcalling escalates to an AttemptedRape (all of which happens offscreen prior to the start of the episode).
* Spoofed a couple of times in ''Series/TheDailyShowWithTrevorNoah'' in regards to a video a woman made of herself getting catcalled all day. He had no idea so many men did that; he thought it was just "construction workers and [[WesternAnimation/RedHotRidingHood cartoon wolves."]] He refers to it again when he compares it to [[ButtMonkey Ted Cruz]] getting harassed in New York. "Even the construction workers are like "Hey, Ted Cruz! Show me that pretty smile, baby! (cue Cruz's infamous [[TheUnsmile creepy smile]]) AAAAAAGH! NEVER MIND, NEVER MIND!"

* Parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TitvIOX7894 this]] ''Series/MadTV'' sketch where the construction workers in question pay no attention to the women attempting to be catcalled.
* ''Series/StrongMedicine'''s Lu gets this and in true StrawFeminist style, tells them all off and asks them how they would feel if someone were talking to their wife/girlfriend/sister/daughter/mother like that.
* One episode of ''Series/MadAboutYou'' has a Jamie reduced to a TowelOfModesty going by a construction site and hearing "Hey mama! Nice cookies", which angers her and leads to an angry tirade... before she notices the mother of one of the workers, who brought cookies for the whole group.
* In ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'', when [[CampGay Titus]] and [[StraightGay Mikey]] go to a club, Mikey tries to flirt with the bouncer to get in. His line, "Hey, are you a high chair? 'Cause I wanna put a baby in you", does not succeed.
* In ''Series/HarryAndPaul'', Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield play the Posh Scaffolders, who alternate between leering Cockney perverts when women pass underneath and highly-cultured posh men in the absence of those women. Eventually, RealityEnsues when one woman calls them out for their crudeness and they're just as unhappy as she is, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality apparently thinking that being insulting to women from scaffolding is just their way of being friendly]].

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* In ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan'', some construction workers try to flirt with Miss Piggy while she's spying on Kermit. The flirting stops after Piggy has a tantrum [[BrawnHilda that involves bending steel bars]].
* On an episode of ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'', Earl's friend Roy Hess begins leering at a dino lady with a fully developed tail while on his lunch break.
[[/folder]]

* In a 2005 stand-up, comedian Creator/LeeEvans pointed out how ridiculous he found this trope (see page quote), and then added that that's how he thinks Creator/TomCruise manages to get women: by cat-calling them on top of a balcony in a sequence similar to Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet.

* Done by the construction worker ghosts in ''VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame''. Oddly, even when no women are present and it's just the [[HoYay male]] Ghostbusters.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has this happen in the first few pages of Title Pending. The commentary makes it clear that the stereotypical depiction was completely intentional.

* The [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ash-pedreiro-dat-ash Ash Pedreiro]] [[MemeticMutation meme]] is named after the Portuguese word for "bricklayer", and he makes {{Anime/Pokemon}}-related {{Double Entendre}}s, such as, "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20120316200836/http://legacy-cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/062011/dat-ash-pikachu.png Ay gurl, take them clothes off so I can get a Pikachu]]". (this owes to how in Brazil, this trope happens in a way that led to the expression "[[TerriblePickUpLines bricklayer pick-up lines]]")

* On ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter once mentioned working as a construction worker in a CutawayGag, but could never get the catcalls right, telling one woman "You suck!".

* On ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' 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 they all make catcalls to a woman passing by.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', "Sonic Rainboom" has a scene where some pegasus construction workers gawp at Rarity's magically-granted [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything butterfly wings]].
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' episode "Chicken Lips", where Chicken sees some ''[[GenderFlip female]]'' [[GenderFlip construction workers whistling at a muscular guy]].
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' opens with this. Beavis and Butt-Head admire their ability to talk to women.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', there is an episode where three LEGO construction workers appear to be hitting on any woman that passes by and mocking everyone else. In truth, they are so socially inept that their sincere compliments come off as lecherous or mean—for instance calling one woman "sweetie" and another "cupcake" [[AnthropomorphicFood because they were literally a lollipop and a cupcake respectively]]. When Gumball tries to give them tips on how to be friendlier in their approach, it turns into the kind of lewd street harassment associated with construction workers and gets worse from there.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' special "Abra-Catastrophe", after Bippy the monkey wishes the Earth was ruled by apes and monkeys, a group of construction worker gorillas do this to a female gorilla walking past their site, hooting wildly.
-->'''Lady Gorilla:''' (angrily shaking her fist) KNOCK IT OFF! What are you, a bunch of HUMANS?!
-->'''Construction Gorilla:''' (offended) Hey! Who are you callin' a human?!