“I felt bad so I just made out with him.”
“I didn’t want to have sex so I just did other things.”
“We were talking for a while so I felt like I needed to.”
These extremely unsettling statements are all real quotes from female college students who believed that they owed something to the men they were talking to. Unfortunately, this unhealthy way of thinking has been manifested into women’s lives since they were young girls.
As a third grade girl you are told that you can be treated badly by boys and that it’s okay. We have all been there, a little boy teases us and what are we told? “It’s that he likes you!” So you begin to internalize that it’s okay to be treated badly by boys and that it’s a sign of love and affection. So what do we do? We allow them to continue teasing us and feel happy that it’s because they like us.
And then, when you’re a sixth grade girl sitting in your unairconditioned 86 degree class room, and you’re told to put a sweater over your tank top because your training bra strap is showing, you are taught to be ashamed. And not only that, you are taught that boys cannot control themselves and we have to cover ourselves up so we don’t affect their ability to focus.
And as a 10th grade girl, when you’re eating less than 600 calories a day to look skinny and attractive, you’re taught that you must fit into the extremely narrow standard of beauty for boys to like you.
And then as a college aged woman, you’re taught to never put your cup down and to laugh at the creepy guys joke to make him feel good so he won’t hurt you. So what do we do? We cling to our friends and hope we’ll avoid anyone coming up to us and grabbing us from behind. And so what do we do when they do? We run away because he’s drunk and much bigger than us.
Young women have been brainwashed into believing that they owe men something. And this needs to end.
This begins with us. We need to teach the next generation of young girls that they exist for themselves and themselves only. They need to be taught to never dumb themselves down, to be outspoken, to stand up for what they believe, and to be strong and powerful women. And most important, we need to teach them that they never need to change who they are for anyone else.
Here’s to inspiring another generation of fearless, strong, and amazing young women. I can’t wait to meet you. IMG Source