Unlearning this dangerous lesson starts in the home

In my interview on the That's Helpful podcast I talk about the extremely controversial but immensely important topic of girls and body ownership.

As a society, we still teach girls that not upsetting someone else is more important than honouring their own boundaries and feelings about their bodies.

Unlearning this dangerous lesson starts in the home.

Transcript

So deeply embedded in our culture is that girls have to do
what other people want them to do with their bodies.
And so I would challenge everyone to think about that.
Do you make your daughter give affection when she doesn't want to?
Do you set up affection as a transaction?
Grandpa gave you a present, go and give him a hug.
When their whole life, they have been taught that not embarrassing someone else,
not hurting someone else, not rejecting someone else,
is more important than them honouring their own feelings and their own boundary.
If you want your daughter to be able to say “no” to unwanted sexual advances,
if you want her to not send that nude,
then the work needs to be done now in your home
when you teach her over and over again through everyday little parenting moments.
“It's your body, so you get to decide what happens with it.”