They told me my skirt was too short, that was why the man whistled at me on the subway. They told me that my bra straps were showing and my leggings were distracting, that was why the boys could not learn. They told me, “don’t make eye contact, don’t leave your drink unattended, and NEVER walk alone at night.” Don’t be out in the streets “asking for it”.

Find me one millennial female that is growing up in the current state of America that hasn’t heard one of these things, or some variation of this sort. It would honestly probably be easier for me to locate a cat with three tails. Why do we keep teaching girls not to draw extra attention to themselves, rather than teaching men to simply respect women? How can you hold such contempt for women when you quite literally came out of one? I should not have to put my head down and change my path just to avoid your objectifying stare.

After our last presidential election, the fear levels of women are perhaps at an all-time high. The future of our nation rests in the hands of a person who in the past has misused them to sexually assault women. Now he will be using those same hands to sign our federal laws into effect. How, as a country, can we moth toward a tomorrow where women can be seen and treated as equals when our leader treats 50% of the population, not as people, but as things?

Society taught me that I was in the wrong. They told me to change my behavior, change my clothes, and change the person I was. God forbid you piss off a man, God forbid you do something a man doesn’t think you’re supposed to be doing. How about we stop teaching girls that they’re “asking for it” and start teaching boys to treat women with honor? If I am inebriated on the floor, I am not asking for it. If I look in your direction and we happen to lock eyes, I am not asking for it. If my shirt scoops just a little too low, I am not asking for it. If I am out in public, running through the streets absolutely naked, I am STILL not asking for it.

We, as a society, must join in this thought process as a united front. Boys, in twenty years, you may have a little girl, who will show up to her first party worried about what random guy is reaching out to smack her ass as she walks through the crowd. She will feel disgusted and violated. Put yourself in our shoes. Girls, I hope you make the right decision, and make the conscious choice to raise your sons differently. PLEASE, RESPECT WOMEN. No matter who you are, YOU WOULD NOT EVEN BE HERE WITHOUT ONE.