I love women. For nearly 21 years I have been surrounded by the most beautiful, complex and fascinating entities on the planet, and yet every time I interact with another woman I am in complete awe of her presence. I don’t care about women’s ethnicity, sexuality, appearance or even age. To me they are the most interesting aspect of my reality. I love the way women speak with precariously constructed words of insight that often emphasize emotional rhetoric. Most of all, I love how difficult it is for me to comprehend the grace and influx of thoughts that goes into an every decision a woman makes.

What has become increasingly apparent to me is that not everyone has the same appreciation for the beauty of women. Despite the best efforts of feminists, objectification of women continues to persist throughout our community. I am a straight, 21-year-old college male with a raging sex drive and yet it is blatantly obvious to me that University of Oregon has a problem with sexism. If I had a nickel for every time I saw a drunk male student forcibly and desperately grabbing a female at a house party — not to mention every time I hear about a date rape that occurs — I would have enough money to buy said females’ tasers to electrocute said males until they couldn’t stand, let alone remain erect.

Women do not exist for the sole purpose of pleasing men. It is endlessly disappointing that in our modern era, some men still believe that they can screw women just for the sake of screwing without respecting and acknowledging the true value of a female. Clearly there are a lot of good guys out there who respect women accordingly, but I am baffled by the select few chauvinists who can’t admit all that women have to offer besides their sexual organs.

Women’s and Gender Studies professor and historian Elizabeth Reis gives an epistemological account for this phenomenon: “Femininity is a construction based around prescriptions of womanhood that have evolved over time to create certain expectations. On campus, women are often expected to be both sexual and simultaneously pure.”

This social paradox is perfectly expressed by daily interactions of the sexes. If a woman is overtly sexually active, they are considered a “slut,” but if they don’t have sex with an expectant male then they are a “prude.” These expectations undermine the humanity of females everywhere. Transcending these constructions is ultimately challenging, and I find myself slipping into gender expectations from time to time. I think consciously recognizing sexism in yourself is key to mitigating gender norms.

Although admittedly guilty of one-night stands, in many ways I detest the activity. To me there are few things as shallow and objectifying as getting one’s drunken rocks off and then tossing one’s sexual partner to the side like a used napkin. While both genders can be guilty of this, I think it is evident that this disrespect is currently far more prominent among the male population than it is in the female population.

For those men who are only out to get laid, I strongly urge you to spend an evening interacting with women for the sake of enjoying their power and natural artistic prowess without considering sex as the ultimate end goal. While swagger and pick-up lines can be fun and sometimes rewarding, looking a woman in the eye and having a legitimate conversation with them is ultimately far more fulfilling.

Ignoring a woman because they don’t fit the archetype of femininity is a ridiculous way to interact with other human beings. Find the beauty in every single female because I assure you, you will discover it if you spend even the smallest amount of time looking for it. So I raise my nearly empty bottle of wine to every single woman out there because you make life interesting and worth living. Don’t ever let someone make you think otherwise.