Since the beginning of time, many people believed that women had been created to help serve and provide for the man. Women have always been seen as the weaker and lesser sex. We have been seen this way because society doesn’t want to admit that women are just as important with or without a man. 

I, as a female growing up in America, am disgusted by the way women are treated even in today’s times. I deserve to have a right to my own body. I deserve to be able to walk alone at night without fearing for my life. I deserve to be treated as an equal, not because of my gender, but because of my intellect and maturity. I deserve to be treated like a human being and not a toy that can be disregarded at any given time. 

Men don’t always understand why a woman fears them. The real answer is women are not afraid of men themselves, they are afraid of the possibilities they know men are capable of.

According to NSVRC, one in five women have, or will be, raped or sexually assaulted in their lifetime. 81 percent of women have reported experiencing rape or assault. To break it down even more, one in three women have been the victims of rape or attempted rape between the ages of 11 and 17. 

Minors have been raped and assaulted, but no one pays any attention to it. A child’s life is ruined, but to many judges and police it doesn’t matter. To a judge, the child that was raped and the rapists have the same rights. Some people believe the rapist deserves to be happy too. After all, they can always claim they didn’t know that the child didn’t consent. 

That being said, it isn’t just women who are assaulted. In their lifetime, one in four men have experienced rape between the ages of 11 and 17. It isn’t just women that have been hurt and raped, men have too and that often overlooked. 

I am very lucky. I have grown up surrounded by family members who love and support me in everything I do. From a young age, I have known what is right and wrong. As I grow up, I see what a healthy and a happy relationship looks like. I have learned what to look for as being wrong or harmful, and I have learned how to get out of dangerous situations. That being said, I know what it is like to have older men stare at you on the street. I know what it is like to worry that you shouldn’t wear something because someone might try and take advantage of you. I know what it is like to be on guard constantly when out and about for fear of being taken. It is a fear that every woman feels and has to deal with. 

Men have had the right to vote in America since the U.S. Constitution was signed. If we are honest, some men had the right to vote in America well before then. Women weren’t able to vote until 1920, almost 150 years later. Since the start of the United States and since the start of the world, we have always been the last gender to have our rights and our freedoms handed to us. 

It isn’t just rape and assault that women have to deal with. We are paid less for doing the same job as a man.  According to Business.org, men will make $10,381 more in the year 2022 than women. We are thought of as dumb if our hair is a certain color. We are thought of as stupid if we don’t fit a stereotype. We are never enough for society because society expects too much of the people they ignore. 

For myself, I constantly feel the pressure of what is expected of me. It could be that because I read, then I must be smart. It could be that I play an instrument, so I must be a musical prodigy. It could also simply be that because I am a female, I must be looking for a man. 

The truth is, I am not looking for anyone. I am enough as I am. That is something more women need to realize. My value is not dictated by what my connection to a man is. I can do anything a man can do, and I can do it just as well. Just because I don’t share the same autonomy, does not mean that I do not deserve to be treated as if I do. 

After Roe V. Wade was overturned in June, women refused to stay silent. What we as females wish to do with our bodies should not get to be decided by a man, but unfortunately that is what it means in America. My body belongs to me, nobody else. If I were to ask a man to get a vasectomy, he might say that it is his body and that he doesn’t have to do what I tell him. That is funny to me, because this is the exact way women feel about having the right to a safe abortion. 

It isn’t only in the U.S. that women are facing the violence of laws being placed on our bodies. According to many sources, including Time Magazine , in Iran, a 22 year old woman named Mahsa Amini, died in police custody for not having her hijab on properly. All because her hijab wasn’t on the way the law said it had to be on. This issue caused an outburst of protests amongst Iranian women. Not only has this sparked revolution amongst the women in Iran, but in women around the world. 

What a woman wears does not dictate her worth. A woman isn’t “asking for it” just because she wears something other than the status quo. If a female wears a long dress with leggings, high boots and a sweater, she isn’t asking for it. If a female wears shorts, a crop top and flip-flops, she isn’t asking for it. Maybe instead of teaching females to cover up, we should teach rapists to be respectful, kind and that “no” means “no.”. 

“It’s not all men,” that is correct, it isn’t all men. But if someone gets attacked by a shark, most of the time that makes them afraid of all sharks. Sure, it was only one shark, but now they are afraid of all because they know what they are capable of.

I know that not all men are out to get me. The men in my life love and support me in everything I do. That being said, I know enough of the world to know to always be on my guard. 

I don’t believe that all men are bad people. I don’t believe all women are good people. I don’t hate men. The patriarchy is an unfair system to both genders. I think both men and women could do a better job understanding one another. That being said, men have been held to a lower standard for far too long. It is time that women raise the expectations in place for them. 

I don’t speak my mind on this topic to cause a fight, I speak my mind to inspire change in the world and the people around me.