I am not an object, I am not a prize, I am a woman. I will not sit back and continue to let men make me afraid. I will not justify boys action because "boys will be boys." I will not let men talk about me as an object because "it's just locker room talk."

I don't want to be a hypocrite, women certainly talk the same way, the difference is there are fewer stories about women acting upon their words. When men say these things, they are more likely to act upon it. In high school, I knew a boy who said that men can't help themselves, that they have urges that women don't understand. He basically told a room full of women that it's our fault if we get raped.

I'm tired of fearing men. I'm tired of being afraid to dress how I want to because I'm afraid that men will stare at me in a bad way. I'm tired of being afraid to walk across my campus in the dark by myself, because even though I know it's safe, it might not be.

Girls should not have to be worried like we are. Little girls shouldn't grow up with their brother's friends calling dibs on them when they're older. In high school, I shouldn't have had to have two boys walk extremely close to me in the hallway and make kissy faces at me. In college, I shouldn't have to worry about walking the mall with one of my best friends because boys behind us are harassing us.

How women dress shouldn't affect their education. In high school, the female dress code is much more strict than the male dress code. Girls can't wear shorts or skirts that are shorter than their middle finger, they can't wear crop tops, they can't have spaghetti strap tank tops. Males can't wear hats, but they can wear their pants drooping past their butt so their boxers are out. They can wear muscle tops that are so loose you can see their whole torso. They can wear shirts that depict drugs, alcohol, and objectify women. But girls get sent home to change their clothes, making the education of boys more important.

Girls shouldn't have to worry about their male teachers. I had a teacher who openly hated women and made girls cry in my class. He would yell at the girls in my class for the smallest things, and then guys would do the same and they would get a lesser punishment. But the teacher still teachers, even when all the other teachers have heard bad things about him and students are always reporting him.

So I'm scared as a woman, but I'm proud to be a woman.