When I was younger, from elementary school to middle school, I remember being picked on a lot by boys. I remember being called "Miss Piggy" along with other less creative insults like the standard "fat" and "ugly." Being spoken to this way often brought me to tears and made me afraid to speak up or stand out, it made me feel isolated. When I reported this cruel behavior I was comforted with "boys will be boys" and "if he's mean to you it means that he likes you." As if that took away the sting, or made me less self-conscious, he was just being a little boy, I should be glad to have his attention. Throughout school, my female peers and I were instructed to make sure our shoulders were always covered, to make sure that our shorts and skirts were long enough as to not show too much leg. When teachers or administrators felt we were revealing too much of ourselves we would be called on in front of the class, escorted out and usually forced to change into something that would attract more attention. All of this humiliation so that we wouldn't distract our male classmates.

Recently the Republican Party's presidential nominee, Donald Trump, was exposed on tape making some vulgar and disturbing comments about women. He essentially implied that he can do as he wishes with women because of his power, made references to making advances on a married women, and crudely explained how he handles women. I am not going to comment on Trump's politics, or on who you should vote for this election. I simply want to offer my perspective on these lewd remarks made by our potential future president and what they really say about our country. A lot of people dismissed these comments as "locker room banter" or "guy talk." This reminds me a lot of being teased in my younger years all the while being reminded it was okay because I had their attention, it was just how boys behaved. I can only imagine how this looks to younger girls, hearing a man with the potential to hold so much power, speaking about women the way Trump does. This mentality of "boys will be boys" furthers the idea that women are subject to this misogynistic behavior, that it's acceptable behavior and we should just deal with it. We are taught to dress for the comfort of the men in our lives, taught how to react to their comments because it's just "locker room banter," taught to enjoy attention from them no matter how negative or objectifying, Quite frankly, some of the comments Trump made perpetuate rape culture, allowing the idea that women can be used as he pleases, he can just "start kissing them" without permission and because of his status women should let him do whatever he wants. As damaging as it would be to girls to hear their president speak about them in such a flippant and derogatory manor, we should also consider the perspective of the young men. Sweet little boys in their developmental years will be following the example of leaders in their life, and having a man like Trump teaching them that women can be handled however they wish will leave a lasting impact. Having a president who calls women names, objectifies women, and uses women would almost be like saying, "hey we think this is okay, because we put this man in power."

Trump is not the reason these problems exist. These problems did not start with Trump. However, the spotlight is on him now and it is allowing room for a much-needed discussion on what we as Americans can tolerate. Instead of teaching girls to cover up, we should teach boys how to not sexualize and objectify girls. Instead of consoling girls with age old sayings like "boys will be boys" we should teach our boys how to speak with respect, to everyone, males and females alike. If we teach consent and compassion to everyone, lines will stop being crossed and hopefully, misogyny will no longer be so deeply ingrained into our society. We shouldn't have to remind people that impacted women are someone's mother, sister or wife. She is someone. That should be enough. When we have these conversations and take a deeper look at what hurtful language like this really does to our society, hopefully, change will begin.