I recently moved to [Eastern Asian Country]. Here "Cat-Calling" and publicly flirting with a woman is so rare that it might as well not exist. The women in this country have absolutely no idea how to handle being publicly spoken to by a stranger. This is not about them.

I started dating a woman on an exchange student program with her college, and she is a native to Chile. She is studying cultural differences between her home country and our host country. What she said in the middle of our conversation really struck a cord.

Back in Chile, I use to get cat called all the time. It really annoyed and bothered me, even to the point of having to say something sometimes.

She has lived here for a little over a year now.

But here, cat-calling doesn't exist. It doesn't happen, at all, ever. They will say I am pretty or beautiful sometimes, but only when I am with friends and only in passing, like after paying for a taxi or dinner or something. I miss it now; especially when I take a lot of time to get dressed up and look pretty. I don't feel like I am as pretty any more.

I found this incredibly telling that women despise being cat-called, but when it is completely removed from their experience, the yearn for attention becomes palpable.

I have been able to capitalize on this fact by giving her regular doses of validation and it gets her as giddy as a 12 year old school girl with a crush.

So while I am not advocating Cat-calling, I have a new understanding of how powerful the validation from strangers can be.