How old were you when you were first inappropriately sexualized? For men, it was probably 15 or 16, and if it was earlier, I am truly sorry. But for women, I bet you could ask your friends and they could tell you the exact moment it happened for the first time. Women are constantly brought down and being valued based only on their bodies. Not only do we grow up with it, but the person in charge of our country forces and builds into this rhetoric.

So here are a couple of stories, and I'll start with mine.

I was a chubby kid if I'm completely honest, and I remember never really thinking much of it. Until an older man told me that once I got smaller in some places and bigger in others, the boys would be all over me. I was 8.

Sarah: In a nursing home I put my head in my dad's lap to fall asleep and an older lady commented on how it was inappropriate. Age: 7 or 8

Emma: "In 6th grade, the guy I was dating included me in a conversation with him and his group of friends and how they were all talking about how they thought I had the biggest ass in the grade and they started listing other girls who were close but eventually they all told me I had the biggest ass and everyone tried to touch it at football games." Age: 12

Eleanor: "I was walking in New Orleans last year, I was at least a head above every other woman there. I was walking to meet up with people wearing jeans and a tight tee and noticed a lot of men staring at me. At first I brushed it off as I'm just tall, but now looking back, I felt really violated." Age: 15

Erika: "When I was told I couldn't wear a v-neck at work because the older men were saying stuff." Age: 15

Piper: "When I started wearing a training bra and my coach told me he noticed." Age: 10

Amanda: "8th grade on the beach, guys were holdingup number cards to rate you as you walked by." Age: 13-14

Montana: "Working in a nursing home being told we couldn't wear leggings because of old men. Principles in middle school told us the same thing. The rule lasted less than three months" Age: ~13 or 14

Karlyn: I did dance when I was in preschool and I remember wearing nothing but a crop top and shorts and makeup and going on stage where men judged me" Age: 3-4

Jenna: "I remember people always telling me 'wow you are going to be stealing all the guys when you're older'. Stuff like that" Age: 6-7

Akshu: "It wasn't me personally but in the media, I noticed that women were only considered 'attractive' based on how little clothing they're wearing/how much skin they're showing. Like the idea of Victoria's Secret making their entire brand around clothing that is sexually appealing to men and simultaneously objectifying for women"

Katie: "My freshman year on the speech team, one of the captains (senior male) said I should wear "less tight shirts, more sweatshirts.' I really looked up to him too." Age: 14-15

Lydia: "In sixth grade a boy grabbed my butt. I was in shock because I had no idea why someone would do that. Anyways, I didn't say anything and I was scared someone would find out it happened" Age: 12

Abby: "I work at a high school in the Bronx. My walk home is less than a mile from the school to the subway station. In that mile, I was catcalled three times. I was less than 10 paces ahead of the kids I work with. I was absolutely heartbroken that they experience the same sexualization every day. I cried on the subway platform waiting for my train" Age: 19

Emma: "In kindergarten I was held up against a fence and a boy kissed me and apparently I wasn't fast enough." Age: 5

Lily: "I was in 6th grade and I was walking down the hallway when a guy slammed me on a locker, grabbed my boobs, and walked away laughing. I felt so used and hurt by it that I went right home crying" Age: 12

Allie: "When I went clothes shopping for my first day of middle school and I saw how all the women were being portrayed and how they were dressed compared to the men. The women in these posters and ads were all half-naked and just wearing tight-fitting clothes whereas the men had layers and were almost always standing higher than the women" Age: 11

Claire: "In 8th grade someone I really liked told me he wouldn't like me/get 'bored' if I didn't send" Age: 13

Reese: "My ass was pretty but my face wasn't. And I deserved it because leggings aren't pants" Age: 17-18

Elaina: "I was at a party one time and I was drunk and I got touched all up and down and I was too afraid to say no and then I got the blame because I was drunk and should've said no and I asked for it, my boyfriend broke up with me because all his friends told him it was on me" Age: 14-15

Hailie: "When he told me to pull my skirt down" Age: 6-7

Tia: "In middle school when they changed the dress code to no leggings or spandex unless a shirt covered your butt" Age: 13-14

Hannah: "I hung out with this senior when I was a sophomore and we drove around in his car for a bit. He stopped at an empty park and I told him I wanted to go home. He told me that he didn't want to waste a quarter tank of gas for no reason. He was 18 and had a foot and about 100 pounds on me. I was scared if I tried to say no or fight back he would hurt me. He forced me to go down on him" Age: 15

It seems like a lot of stories about a lot of bad things, but the reality is, that's just one moment that each of these girls faced. Just one moment out of the thousands that girls face throughout their lives. We grow up surrounded by people telling us what we need to look and act like to get respect. That if we don't act proper and prim then we don't deserve to be respected as a person. We grow up being taught that what we wear or what we do is an excuse for people to take advantage of us. If we wear skirts, we distract the boys, the boys aren't taught that what they're doing is wrong, they're taught that we should not have worn the outfit we wore. So why is it that I am not mature enough to consent to sex until 16, but starting at age 6, girls and women are expected to be mature enough to face sexualization, objectification, victim-blaming, catcalls, unwelcomed touches, degradation, and so much more.