I know you may be assuming, by the title of this article, that I am about to go on a feminist rant about how all men are pigs, but bare with me.

As a young woman, growing up, I was taught to always be aware of my surroundings. I never dare walk alone at night or take a drink from a boy I just met. I’ve been told that dressing provocatively means that I am asking for attention, so I am constantly aware of how my appearance is perceived. We live in a world where women are conditioned to believe that they need to change their habits simply because “boys will be boys”. In high school, I and many friends occasionally ran into the situation where a man would yell something demeaning in attempt to provoke our interest which we would simply ignore. Since moving to college, I feel as if these situations happen more and more, which I think is due to the culture of college and the effect it has on men.

By no means am I bashing all guys. I am fully aware that nice guys exist, and there are plenty of them, but my recent encounters have made me question where they are hiding. A few weeks ago, I was walking from one part of campus to another with two of my friends. A car drove by and yelled something about our outfits being slutty. And if that was not far enough across the line, they turned the car around and said something about rape.

Now, I usually disregard inappropriate comments guys make, but this one continues to stick with me. Since when is it okay to threaten some innocent girls’ safety? Or make them uncomfortable in a place they should feel at home? We were by no means dressed “like sluts,” but even if we were dressed provocatively, that does not give anyone the right to suggest rape. A common problem victims, specifically women, of sexual assault face today is that people say things along the line of “oh her skirt was short, she was asking for it”. The way women dress is not the problem with sexual assault. It is the idea that many men think it is okay to violate basic human rights for their own personal gain.

Maybe it’s because college is a unique atmosphere, or that students are discovering their newfound freedom, but I find that I’ve encountered more guys that mistreat women in my four months here than I have in my four years of high-school. I am not trying to make college seem as though it's an unsafe or unenjoyable place; I’ve made some of the best memories here and am extremely lucky to be able to enjoy this experience. I am just somewhat dumbfounded at the culture of many of the boys here.

I’ve experienced it first hand, as well as many of my friends yet I can’t figure out the moral logistics of it all. Why anyone would think it’s okay to drug someone or take advantage of a helpless intoxicated girl is beyond me. Every girl and future generations of girls should be able to feel safe, especially transitioning into a new phase of their life. I think if we begin to raise the future generation of boys to carry more respect for women, then we may see a change in this problem.