Our gender is something we can’t choose and yet affects us throughout our lives. For example, remember that time the teacher needed some students to help get something out of her vehicle but chose two boys instead of you? Or maybe that time you wanted to play a sport, but your parents wouldn’t let you because “a girl’s place is in the kitchen and not on the field getting dirty”? Or how about that time you wanted to go shopping alone with your friends but were denied permission because you’re a “defenseless little girl”? Or what about that time you came home a minute late and got in major trouble, yet your brother came in at 3:00 a.m and got let off the hook like a fish getting thrown back in for being too small. Maybe, maybe not. It doesn’t matter; it’s mostly because of gender inequality.

Now I can’t speak for guys but many of the girls I know wonder how it would be as the opposite gender. In our society, we girls are viewed as less simply because we are female. We struggle with achieving the perfect foundation and winged eyeliner, handling bad hair days, walking in high heels. As women, we will experience the pain of child birth. We deal with all of it! So if we can do anything with determination AND look 100% better doing it, then why are we looked down as weak and submissive beings?

It is true that some people do not see girls as less than guys. And not all females are radical feminists completely against men whose throats they want to rip out for their macho opinions against women. Some of us just simply seek equality — not female superiority. Guys are included in this group, too.

Some people say that women are just making a riot and think we should be satisfied with having the opportunity to be able to vote. I agree that our votes now count; however, in some places, women are denied before even being heard. Why shouldn’t we want more opportunities and respect? No not more, rather the same/equal opportunities and respect as men.

There is no reason why a female should feel any less than a male, but of course guys remark about our weakness and even threaten us with violence. Why do some guys have a goal to hurt women? Goal or no goal, they’ve accomplished scaring us into an inner cell of fear. Just consider these statistics: Globally, nearly 40% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner. One in four women are physically or sexually abused during pregnancy. More than 100 countries have laws on the books that restrict a women’s participation in the economy. In some jobs, women earn 78 cents for every dollar a man makes. Even in the top ten paying jobs for women, females earn less than men.

I believe that guys who abuse girls do so to scare us and lower our confidence because we are a threat to them. They think that if we do things they do, then we will take over and males will soon be seen as less — like we are now. These types of guys can’t take that risk, can they now?

Who says that the strength women might lack for in muscle can’t be made up for in brain power? We will probably never know if our society makes it nearly impossible for women to progress, basically making us pray a rosary before even giving us a chance. Even in 2015, women and men are far from playing on the same level field, but I have faith that it can be done.