Getting ready for a night on the town with you girlfriends is great! You help each other pick out what to wear, touch up hair and makeup and sing obnoxiously loud to all of the standard party pump up jams. In the face of all of this fun, however, rape culture still finds its way into the night.

What is rape culture? It's not easy to define. Some people don't even really accept that it exists. Rape culture is the fact that society teaches women not to get sexually assaulted but doesn't teach men how to not sexually assault. It's a society that uses the words "taking advantage of her" to describe a man having sex with a woman who is incapacitated due to alcohol consumption when the real name for it is rape. It's victim blaming, slut shaming, and essentially the fact that we live in a society whose norms and attitudes toward sexuality normalize and trivialize rape and sexual assault.

From a young age, girls are taught to be more "on their guard" and this practice only increases when preparing for college. When is the last time you saw a man with a bottle of pepper spray on his car key ring or a "men's self-defense class"? You haven't.

Am I being a little sexist? No. I'm not, not at all.

1 in 5 women compared to 1 in 71 men will be a victim of sexual assault in their lifetime according to the CDC.

Among undergraduate students, 23.1% of females and 5.4% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation.

These and other frightening statics show the increased risk women face for sexual violence and assault.

We don't think twice about or question these ideals. By not talking about them, we are truly only reinforcing rape culture and giving it the ability to exist. Here is a list of things that someday, when we rid of rape culture, I hope I won't have to say to my friends.

1. "Watch your drink."

I could give you a frightening statistic as to the number of people who get drugged at parties/clubs/and bars annually, but it wouldn't be accurate due to the under-reporting of this crime. Ultimately, it happens. It happens a lot and there is no excuse for why it happens. Wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a world where setting your drink on a table for 3 minutes while you use the restroom didn't have the possibility of ending you unconscious or assaulted?

2. "Keep your phone on in case you need help."

3. "Don't drink too much"

The only consequence of getting drunk should be a nasty hangover, not a sexual assault. Women are taught that drinking too much can result in someone "taking advantage of them" to put it lightly. That's called rape. If you can't say yes, the answer is no. According to The National Collegiate Data and Acquaintance Rape Statistics, 90% of acquaintance rapes involve alcohol.

4. "Make sure not to walk by yourself once it gets dark."

Women should not have to fear the simple task of walking somewhere. It's as simple as that.

5. "We need to stay in a pack."

6. "Don't go anywhere alone with him."

Men are not ravenous animals. We should hold them to a higher standard of accountability and trust than we do. Instead of expecting women to be overly cautious, why don't we start expecting that men will act respectably?

7. "Do you have pepper spray with you?"

Once again, it would be nice if the importance did not lie in protection but rather prevention of assaults.

8. "Keep your phone on in case you need help."