By Sarah Hawkins, TIWP Student

It is a hard realization to come to growing up as a female and slowly learning you exist for men, but that’s not true—at least it shouldn’t be. However, as I look at past events of not only my life, but also many other female’s lives, there seems to be that misconception. The idea that females exist for the pleasure, company, assistance, and any other action for men. And it starts at a young age.

In middle school, you learn to dress for men. In order to not distract them, it’s a girl’s job to shield men’s eyes from the skinny spaghetti straps and belly buttons of a twelve-year-old girl. In high school, girl’s learn not to post photos in a bikini in order to save a man 20 years older from accidentally staring at the photo for a little too long. In college you learn that you can’t wear anything too tight or revealing—whatever that actually means—in order to protect a man you’ve never met from groping you.

A man’s control, or lack thereof, has become a female’s job to manage. The idea that we must change our actions, appearances, ideas, attitudes in order to protect men is a joke, yet it seems to be the unfortunate reality of the world we live in.

Everyday another little girl learns the harsh realities of her perceived value in this world. Our culture will continuously pound the idea that we are here to please men into our heads. We can say it’s not true, but until we stop placing the responsibility of mens’ actions on women, girls will grow up learning to modify their behaviors for men. Women don’t exist to be men’s objects.