When I was eight years old, if you asked me how I saw the world in eleven years, I would describe to you how, in my mind, I saw "boys and girls being friends—no, being equals—and there wouldn't be conflict between the two genders." I didn't know about equal pay or catcalling or human trafficking, or anything of the likes. I just wanted people to stop talking about how I needed to marry someone when I was older because I was a girl. Had I known how far my vision would be from reality, perhaps my bad habit of raising my expectations would have been killed right then and there, and my faith in humanity would not have diminished in the tragic way it did in the past few years. Because it is 2019, but the views on gender inequality are just as backwards as they were in the 20th century. Women are still seen as objects, as toys for emotionless sex and pleasure after years of endless effort to be seen as what we are—humans. It disgusts me. And the people who perceive women in this way disgust me even more. The fact that feminism has been misunderstood and twisted into "feminazism" because of the insecurities people have about gender equality, the fact that some men feel so attacked because we have been advocating for years for equality with respect to things that should have been given to us rightfully despite still having not received them, the fact that many of the men who promise us that they will protect us from those who try to harm us are the same men who stand in public and catcall the random girl crossing the street who is wearing clothes that make her feel comfortable and confident in her flesh is, quite simply, unacceptable.

I would like to point out some things that I've noticed with regard to feminism and gender inequality.

Number one, there would be no need to "protect" women if we weren't in a society that portrays men as threatening and dominant individuals around women in the first place. Women are taught to cover their skin, avoid eye contact, and dress modestly, but men are not taught to... not rape and not catcall? Men are being praised for not touching a woman without her consent when that should be expected and held as a standard. The responsibility all lies on the woman's shoulders, yet they are still seen as vulnerable victims of their own tragic fates.

Number two, even if we ARE in danger, we should not be raised in an environment that teaches us to run and cower and hide. We should be taught how to stand up and fight for ourselves instead of depending on a man to do it for us. This dependency has not only gotten to the heads of men, but also to the heads of women. We are all taught that women are dependent on men for protection, and this crippling vulnerability associated with a "good" woman is what holds us back in the first place. It is not just the men who refuse to let a woman climb the hierarchy—we women are holding ourselves and each other down due to being raised in an environment that portrays us as competitors rather than sisters.

Number three, the egos of many men are usually much more fragile than the egos of many women, yet women are seen as weaker because we are more emotional. It takes a lot for a woman to crack and break, but one little comment and the male ego shatters. Those men twist our words and call feminists "man-hating" when they just want equality.

You cannot assume that the women that you love are human because you like them, but every other woman is not. When you say "women," you are referring to all women. This includes the women you had meaningless sex with and dropped despite their feelings for you, the women you led on, the women who you call psychotic, but also the women who raised you, the women who give you a shoulder to cry on, and the women who you promise to protect. If you sit here and swear to keep a woman safe, you must accept the fact that you will be called hypocritical and be looked down upon if you treat another woman like an object for your own selfish pleasure. You're no better than the rest.

And I am aware that many men have also been raped and abused just as women have. Most of these men have, tragically, been raised in a society that makes them believe that they should hide their experiences and emotions about rape out of fear of being seen as weak. This vulnerability and idea of weakness stems from the way women are seen when they are victims , and in all honesty, this is one of the worst aspects of society. If someone has been wronged, they deserve justice, not to be looked down upon for standing up for themselves. It breaks my heart when victims of rape and assault are accused of lying and false accusations when they are trying to seek justice. I said before that people tend to remember the negatives more than the positives, and society tends to always bring up the accusations of false rape made in the past, blowing up the amount of times these false accusations were actually made.

The fact that a woman gave birth to you and raised you was pointed out so frequently that it has lost its impact, dwindled away along with the respect that we women deserve. So let me remind you this: the world you live in, the society that you grew up in and most likely will help shape in the future, would not and will never revolve without women and men. One will not make it without the other. Women always have, always do, and always will deserve the same respect men have just because we are alive and breathing. I believe we all have a right to life, equality, and respect. So if you tell me that I cannot do something because I am a woman, because I am a possession that belongs to a male, that I cannot build up my own identity because my future is determined by my father, and then my husband, know that these words that will fall from my lips might die in your ears, but they will die defending almost four billion beating hearts and thriving souls who will never forget them.