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Musings of a Woman Living in a Man’s World

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Duke chapter.

Sometimes, I hate my school.

I hate the hookup culture. I hate the WNS expectations. I hate the drunken grabs in Shoots, the garbled words at frat parties.

I hate the classroom inequality—the way my professor validates the words of my male peers when they repeat the ideas of my female ones.

via: White Station Scroll

I hate that guys I’m friends with don’t understand why I hate walking alone on a campus that is “so closed off” and “safe.”

I hate when Duke forgets to alert its students of attempted kidnappings or robberies because they’ve become so commonplace, why make students paranoid?

I hate that the national average is 1/5 women will be sexually assaulted during their college career. I hate it even more that Duke’s average is 2/5.

via: The Chronicle

Sometimes, I hate my city.

I hate that women can’t walk down Main without dealing with catcalling, wolf whistling, and the inevitable poorly timed honk.

Related: A Reflection on Catcalling

via: Odyssey

I hate that my first thought after being objectified is, “Why did I put on this tank top? I should’ve worn something more modest.” Why is it a woman’s go to to blame herself?

Sometimes, I hate my country.

I hate that of Fortune’s ranked top 500 companies, 32 of them have female CEOs. That’s 6.4% female while women make up 50.8% of the population.

I hate that women make up less than a fifth of Congress while the population should reflect more than double that.

via: Asher Freeman

I hate the tampon tax—seriously, can we talk about the fact that on top of incessantly bleeding for 25% of the year, women also have to pay a tax for the “luxury” of wearing feminine hygiene products that allow us to live normally?

via: Change.org

I hate that my government is led by a sexist accused of sexual misconduct, known for disrespecting women, a man who was voted in by women as well as men.

Other times, I love these places.

I love the women willing to stand up for what they believe in, marching against inequality, starting movements, rising up.

Related: What Comes After the March

via: Guest of a Guest

I love watching women in power fiercely defend their right to be there, shooting down misogynists left and right.

I love having a community of women who are strong and empowered, women who inspire me to go beyond the limitations I have set for myself and that society has set for me.

I love having the opportunities I’ve been given, opportunities that women before me never had.

I love knowing that the world is moving in the right direction, even if we haven’t made it yet.

I am a senior at Duke University studying psychology and history, and I have been writing with Her Campus since I was a freshman. Having this incredible community of empowering women to build me up when I need support and to give me an outlet when I need to vent has been one of the greatest aspects of my Duke career! I am so sad to leave them soon, but I am excited to pursue my J.D. at Georgetown in the fall!