I hate going to the gym. I hate walking to my car. I hate shopping in a grocery store. I hate doing so many things now because of boys. 

No, not those men who will hold the door open and not look at your ass the second you walk by them. I’m talking about boys. The guys who will look at you while you’re simply trying to run on a treadmill and make you feel unsafe in a public area. 

That’s also not even the worse part. The worst part is when you’re simply trying to tie your shoe and you turn around to a man quadruple your age staring at you. It makes you feel uncomfortable and unsafe. 

Or when you want to buy a smoothie for a snack, and the boys stare at you when all you wear is a hoodie and sweatpants, which shouldn’t even matter, because clothes aren’t an invitation for boys to sexualize women. This adds to the double standard that women face because of how ridiculous it has become between what is considered “okay” for women to wear in comparison to men or boys. Pajamas are something everyone wears but yet when a girl wears them, they’re sexualized. 

Even when talking about dress code and saying that boys will be “distracted” by girls’ shoulders or legs because of their clothes, but come on. If I’m not distracted by a boy’s boxers hanging out of their pants, my shoulder shouldn’t be a distraction. 

Don’t even get me started on “boys will be boys” either because that saying is completely stupid. Adults seem to excuse this behavior too by saying that BOYS will be BOYS but we should teach BOYS to be MEN who actually respect and value women rather than simply brushing them off and making them seem lesser and, especially, unsafe. 

Maybe instead of saying that girls need to cover up or to not do one thing or to not do the other, tell boys to respect women and not stare at them like they’re only an object for their pleasure. They should treat women as equals rather than just something for them to look at and that they shouldn’t objectify women. Because NO boys will NOT be boys. Teach boys to act like MEN.