When I was younger I always thought that relationships would be like the love songs I grew up around. I wanted to be courted like the ladies of the 1920s. Back then it was unheard of for a girl to approach a boy in pursuit of a relationship; the boy was to always approach the girl in a gentleman-like manner and ask her out on a date. The girl’s role would be to blush, smile and, in the same mannerly fashion, accept or decline the request for a date.

Now that I am old enough to date I have realized that things have changed over the years. We as ladies have to approach guys that we are interested in, not the other way around. If we happen to catch the eye of a young man, we are subjected to dog calls such as; “Aye, ma, come here” or my personal favorite “Aye, girl, come here.”

So now not only do they want your attention, you are still expected to come to them as if you are some dog that they are calling. I don’t know about you ladies, but I’m a human being and I would like to be approached as one. I don’t stand on four legs, I only have two.

I can’t put all the blame on the males though. We as young women are at fault here too. We don’t represent ourselves as ladies so why should guys treat us as such? We walk around most of the time under dressed and loaded with enough attitude to put a drag queen to shame. I find it hard myself to respect other young women in society because of this. My point is summed up by Lyfe Jennings in his song “Statistics”: “Don’t be a nickel out here looking for a dime.” We as people can’t hold others to standards that we ourselves can’t even live up too.

So if we as young women and young men want to be respected by the opposite sex and experience healthy relationships, we need to build ourselves back up to our original worth. Young women, leave something to the imagination in your attire and please revaluate that attitude. Young men, open up a door for a lady and give compliments that don’t pertain to the female anatomy once in a while. They say chivalry is dead. Let’s try and prove them wrong.