Something has been bothering me for quite some time and I want to finally get it off my chest.

It's about respect.

It's about respecting women.

It's about women respecting women.

It all started at one of my last football games as a Notre Dame student. As we all quickly learn as freshmen, most students don't actually sit in their designated seats. Rather, you sit wherever you can whenever you get to the stadium. Such was the status quo for four seasons and no one ever hassled me about it.

Until halfway through the first quarter of the USC game when my friends and I were approached by a very unhappy looking group of girls. This foursome, headed by a woman from the same hometown as one of my best friends, insisted that we move out of their seats and into the seats we were given. Initially, I didn't know how to respond because never before had I been presented with such a claim. Looking behind me, I could see that there weren't any seats left in the senior section. Looking ahead, toward my rightful seats, I could see my fellow seniors. If I were to move closer to the field to my rightful seat and push those seniors out, then they would have to go to their seats and push others out. It would be impossible for everyone to iron the problem out.

I tried explaining this to these women, but they didn't care. They wanted us gone. So, I tried explaining it again. My friends and I even offered to move over and make room for them, but they weren't interested in compromise. Instead of taking us up on the offer, the woman leading this quad looked at my friend — the one who comes from the same hometown as she — and called us a very, very bad name.

This woman called us a derogatory word referring to a part of the female anatomy — a part of her female anatomy. With no concern for the years of oppression women have faced and with no care for the shame women still have to overcome about their own bodies, this angry woman showed us that she has a lot to learn about being a woman.

Real women don't knock down themselves in an effort at knocking down other women.

Real women don't take advantage of negative attitudes about women.

Real women don't further society's ignorance about what it means to be a woman.

Real women don't use a bad word about a beautiful part of their bodies to hurt their fellow women.

Real women learn to find comfort in who they are and what their bodies look like.

By using such a tasteless, classless and immature slur, this "woman" proved that real women have a long way to go.

• Real women show respect