As I was doing my weekly run to Tom Thumb recently, browsing through the Lean Cuisine frozen meal section, a mother and her daughter walked by and I heard this exchange of words: “He just treats me like a piece of meat, I’m more than that!” The mother responded “Men don’t know how to respect women. You’ll find someone better soon, honey.”

I spun around just in time to notice I recognized said daughter as a someone I saw at a recent fraternity bus party, dressed to the nines in that night’s fashion and visibly intoxicated.

Ok, ok ladies, how can you expect a man to respect you if the only time he sees you, you are drunk and falling out of the outfit you painstakingly put together for that night’s debauchery?

I’m not discouraging fraternity parties, bus parties or getting dressed up and having a good time. We are in college, so we all should have our fair share of fun experiences and crazy nights. But I worry that lifestyles such as these do not lead to beginning healthy relationships or friendships, but instead just add to the stereotype of the “SMU girl:” the pretty party girl here to find her dream man.

We all have brains (we wouldn’t be going to SMU if we didn’t) and as funny as the stereotypical “MRS degree” joke can be, everyone here wants to better themselves, and if they happen to meet someone special along the way, so be it. But unless you take the time to show the opposite sex there is more to you than a pretty face, nice mammary glands and a party-girl attitude, why should anyone respect you, or want to get to know what’s below the surface?

Women get the short end of the stick here because they don’t want to appear like sluts or bad girls for partying too hard and not being conservative. But on the other hand, no one wants to be the prude who stays in every Thursday and Friday night reading her textbooks.

There is a balance somewhere, but sometimes even I do not know where to find it. Maybe that balance comes from being a confident woman, someone who doesn’t let anyone walk all over her, by having fun and letting loose but not to the point where inhibitions are so gone you act like someone you don’t want to be.

We have all had that next morning feeling of “Oh crap, what did I do last night?” immediately followed by the text message from a random phone number saying, “Let’s hang out,” and that sucks. First impressions matter, so let males know you have brains and a fun side every time you are out and about. This isn’t just in social situations; this is in class, in the business world or whatever other situation you are in.

Through media, TV, movies and magazines, society today has raised a generation of men whose first instinct is to look at what is on the outside rather then a woman’s personality.

We have all seen that TV show where the boss harasses the pretty new intern or secretary, but that secretary is also acting like a brainless twit. That is not real life. Don’t let yourself be taken into that gender stereotyping. Make yourself stand out, show you have ideas, intellect and an ability to carry on a conversation. Demand respect.

I guess it goes back to that old saying, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” You want respect, you give it out, you want to be treated right, so act with confidence and treats others the same.

Rachel Carey is a sophomore political science major. She can be reached at [email protected].