R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Pierced from tongue to navel, Super low Levis on, this girl has some beef with a society that doesn't seem to care what she wants. \nInstead of placing her on equal turf with her male counterparts, the misogynistic air keeps thickening and breast size and complexion of her skin have seemed to become more important than heart and intelligence. \nIt has just gotten old.\nGone are the days of concubines and 100 wives for every man. Here are the days when it is about time women are judged by content of character, and not the gender they were born with or the amount of abs they decide to show.\nI used to think that society really had progressed and that maybe moving north of the Mason Dixon line, women could get a little more respect. But now, with men and boys who talk to me looking around the side of me to get a better look at my ass and who care little for my heart and more for whether I will give it up, its about time I take a stand for all the females who just want some equality.\nI've never been the feminist type. I love men, boys and college guys who are somewhere in between manhood and adolescence: I just wish I could be seen as someone just as worthy of a turn at Playstation 2 as the guy sitting next to me.\nObviously, this battle is much more than bragging rights to Madden Football 2002, but it is a battle fought at every level from desks in chief executive officers' offices to the overcrowded rooms at frat parties where it seems more important to take a girl home than to know her last name.\nMy mother says that we "New Age" girls get what we deserve as we sport our sluttish attire and strut our stuff often too late at night in places "nice girls" shouldn't be. \nInstead of dressing like nice girls in cardigans and button downs, my mom thinks that my tattoo and tongue ring seem to signify that I don't demand respect and that is why I am treated accordingly.\nI must admit that sometimes being discriminated against can come in handy when there is a man around that is willing to jump you in line because your navel is showing. But even in times like these, it is almost vulgar the small amounts of respect females seem to get.\nBoth genders may argue that girls get benefits from expressing their sexuality through skimpy clothing or wild makeup, and I won't deny that. But I believe that everyone deserves a basic level of respect that doesn't change with clothing habits or breast size.\n I just want a fair chance. I want my knowledge of college basketball and other sports to be normal and not discredited because I am a female. I want to have job opportunities when I graduate that I don't get because I have a petite figure or I look decent in a short skirt. I want to be treated just like anyone else, in any situation, anywhere. Is that too much to ask? \n Most of all, I just want to be equal, in the eyes of men, boys and my peers. Just because I might look different when I have bright pink streaks in my hair Christina Aguilera-style doesn't mean that I am a different person on the inside, despite what the stereotype might be.\nIsn't this what all girls want? It's almost 2002, and I think it is about time equality comes into play and books are no longer judged by their ever changing covers.