Ideas worth spreading

I Own Me: Understanding Our Property Rights to Our Own Bodies

63,415 views |

Faith Jones |

TEDxWilsonPark

• August 2019

How often do we, as women, not speak up when someone is violating our personal space, in particular when a man is touching us and it is unwanted? Our experiences of violation can be horrific or seemingly insignificant which, in reality, seems to have little correlation to whether the psychological effects are severe or mild. Yet, all of our experiences share a common message about the nature of what it is to be a woman. At its core, it is about property rights – Do I own me? Do I have a full and unfettered property right to my own body? What does that actually look like?

How often do we, as women, not speak up when someone is violating our personal space, in particular when a man is touching us and it is unwanted? Our experiences of violation can be horrific or seemingly insignificant which, in reality, seems to have little correlation to whether the psychological effects are severe or mild. Yet, all of our experiences share a common message about the nature of what it is to be a woman. At its core, it is about property rights – Do I own me? Do I have a full and unfettered property right to my own body? What does that actually look like?

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxWilsonPark, an independent event.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxWilsonPark, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.