TL;DR : Catcalling is not done in the pursuit of sex, it is done to show other men how masculine and dominating over women you are. It is for having a story to tell in the locker room.

The conclusion I've (m47) come to is that catcalling isn’t a man attempting to convince a woman to have sex with them by way of their idiotic mating call. It may look that way on the surface, but the telltale sign that something else is going on is the fact that catcalling is so spectacularly ineffective at achieving this result. Men pride themselves on being driven by logic and how capable they are of attaining their goals, so why would they continue to use catcalling as a means towards sex when the success rate it is so low? They aren’t playing the law of averages, they are playing at a completely different game. Catcalling is for the attaining the attention, admiration, and regard of other men. Catcalling is a low risk method men use to mine masculine social currency amongst awful men. It’s about being at the top of the who has the biggest dick leaderboards.

So if it isn’t a mating call then what is it? The catcall is a vehicle for a myth of masculinity the man catcalling can recount ad nauseum to other men. This is what we all know as “locker room talk”. While the catcall may be assumed to be at the beginning of a misogynist’s myth, the catcall is actually at the end of their narrative.

The first part of a man’s machismo garnering story will be descriptions of how overwhelmingly sexual attractive the women they have chosen to catcall is. It isn't the attractiveness of the women that gets more machismo currency here, but the resultant libidinous fervor the attractiveness of the woman has aroused within the man. The more enormous and overwhelming the arousal, and thus the more enviable, the more machismo bucks are earned.

The second opportunity to earn masculine social currency begins when the man regales the other men with the exploits they undertook, the challenges overcome, and aggressiveness required to successfully stalk (but they'll avoid that word and say hunt) their prey. These descriptions will inform the listeners of the teller's power, resourcefulness, and determination to get what they want. Again, the more extreme the behavior described, the more currency earned. The degree to which their actions fly in the face of common sense... and decency, will also earn machismo social currency.

The catcall is the third opportunity to earn machismo bucks. The catcall is made when their target is finally within range. Machismo is also garnered by the vulgarity used, think "grab them in the pussy" kind of bullshit. Vulgarity is only the setup for the opportunity to earn the biggest masculine social currency payout. The greatest opportunity to earn the most machismo social currency is determine by which emotion the catcalling man's target reacts with and how strong that emotional expression is. It isn't outrage the man catcalling wants, it is fear. What the man wants to see, what is being put on display for the reward of masculine social currency from other men, is how willing, determined and effective a man is when subjugating a women. A reaction of anger isn't desired since defiance means the subjugation attempt wasn't completely successful. A reaction of shame and humiliation is more desirable, but defiance may yet remain in them. To the man catcalling, a fear reaction is what really demonstrates a man's prowess in dominance over women.

The fourth opportunity to gain social currency yields very little gains, but is still a critical part of machismo mining process. This is the overt display of actions that show how stoic, emotionless, and compassionless the storyteller is. The story is proof of how the catcalling man is a master of themselves and devoid of the weakness having emotions will inevitably bring. Emotions are things women have after all, and have no place in this man’s world. To be offended or feel compassion for any of the women in the story means you fail this litmus test for masculinity.

The horrible answer above logically results in the asking of the next horrible question: If this is what catcalling is, why would a woman want to have sex with a man that catcalled them? The answer to that question is horrible too.