October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It is a time that reminds women of the signs of domestic violence. This month is especially important because the National Organization for Women estimates that about 2 to 4 million women are battered each year.

However, some college-age women choose to ignore these startling statistics and willingly give in to the demands of men. These are the women who participate in such atrocious events as “pimps and hos” parties and will do anything for a free drink.

Why would any college woman degrade herself by being thought of as a prostitute? Why would any college man want to have their female peers portrayed as prostitutes? Since it is believed most prostitutes are beaten and abused by their pimps, why would any college woman want to participate in a party theme that promoted such violence?

“Pimps and hos” parties are parties in which women must arrive three-fourths naked in order to be allowed in, but men can dress to their choosing. By watching any episode of “Cops,” one would find most prostitutes dressing in dirty, oversized clothes and often getting busted for crack cocaine, not for public nudity and intoxication.

College men who throw “pimps and hos” parties are sick, twisted, perverted individuals who will most likely remain single for the rest of their lives and/or serve time in prison. They are reeling college women into their acceptance of violence by offering them free drinks if they dress “ho-ish,” which could, according to www.break-the-cycle.org, be a form of domestic violence.

For instance, since college men find they can make women dress how they want for their viewing pleasure, many will also assume they can make women do something else for their physical pleasure. This could inevitably result in rape, since there are college women who go to these parties and are naive enough to feel safe with a group of drunken, horny men when they are wearing skimpy clothing.

Women who go to these parties may find they are getting more than free beer – perhaps much more than they bargained for.

Women who agree to dress scantily in order to get free beer need to get their priorities in order. It is not worth saving money if it means losing dignity and risking exposure to violent behavior. Women who need to act like hos are women who look to be dependent on men for their income and well being, not college women who are learning to be independent and successful.

Now, it should be all right for young women to wear whatever they want, whenever they want, but we don’t live in that world. We live in a world where we need to have a Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

We live in a patriarchal society where many women still give in to men’s desires for fear of being outcasts. If college women would come together, reject “pimps and hos” parties and become financially independent and pay for their own simple pleasures like alcohol, then maybe men who throw the parties will be forced to find other ways of “picking up chicks” without resorting to promoting violent and malicious behavior.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.