For all of my life I’ve been told to respect others and that respect is earned not given, but in today’s world respect for people seems to be a distant value that no longer truly exists.

It seems that in years past women were more  respected, even during the years of struggle for equal rights. Sure, women’s rights were not equal to men’s, but at least they were respected. However, as years passed, women began to be treated more as objects instead of people.

Even during the women’s suffrage movement in the 1920s, when women had to fight for the rights they believed they should have,  they still seemed to receive some underlying respect from their male counterparts according to history.com.

In today’s world, a  quick look at the headlines reveals this all too well. Renowned Hollywood director Harvey Weinstein was recently removed from his position as movie producer  due to years of horrible behavior toward women these behaviors included  molesting and sexually harassing women .this is also our current President of the United States, Donald Trump, who was heard in an audio recording , commenting on how he openly sexually assaults women. Trump’s infamous comments were 12 years old,and were released during his campaign to bring shock to the voting public, but it didn’t matter. Many people in America did not care that Trump blatantly talked about harassing and grabbing women. Though,they still voted for him.

Statements like these from Trump and years of abuse by people like Weinstein  clearly highlight the fact that men perceive women as objects and not human beings. If men like these can get away with these of actions with ease, they cannot respect us.  That’s not how it’s suppose to be in this world. With the direction this world is going, it looks as though women  will be little more than servants and objects to our male counterparts.

Trump and Weinstein are just the tip of the iceberg. Take for example recently deceased Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, who made a fortune by selling the bodies of pretty young women since the 1960s. Heffner made  a fortune off of women like Marilyn Monroe (in his 1953 edition of the magazine) according the Eonline.com and many others whom he displayed on the pages of his magazine. Then, at his mansion, he made many young women basically part of  a sexual cult who lived there and spent time with Hefner and his friends. How is that respectful?

How is this going to bring up a new generation of strong women who value themselves?

One cannot argue this without at least looking at how women play a minor role in some aspects of this. Young women like Blac Chyna and Kim Kardashian came to fame by being scandalous and vulgar all over social media. These women, and others like them, send a bad message to young girls and play into the hands of the men who seek to control them.

To be honest, a lot of elements  come into play when we talk about the respect  men have for women. From the way some women carry  and present themselves to men in power, and those we see in our everyday lives, for example wearing provocative clothing,it is time to stop the disregard for women and start treating women as though they belong in this world and also act like without  women  the world wouldn’t be a world.