Before you ask, yes, this happened in Italy.

Some men love catcalling. Who knows why this is the case? The few studies I’ve found about the phenomenon say things like “the most frequently reported motivations for catcalling were to flirt with and to express sexual interest” and “the most desired reaction from recipients was friendliness,” which feels like something I could have told you without getting any of your government grant money.

Still, it seems to be a pretty universal thing around the globe: Seeing a woman walk by, some men just can’t help themselves but make comments about her appearance.

How we stop this is an open question. One group thought they had the solution: Trick men into catcalling their own mothers. Here’s how it went down: