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Louise's avatar

Thank you so much for this article. I am trying to learn how better to express my wants, needs, and desires without feeling such guilt and shame. It’s a process of unlearning and relearning but this article helped me see I am not alone in figuring out how to advocate for myself.

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Natalie Eleanor Patterson's avatar

"A lifetime of objectification, shame, and silence led me to consent to a lot of things I did not actually want because my understanding of my body and, consequently, myself was that it existed for male pleasure.... I understood my role in physical intimacy to be that of an object—not a person with the right to express desire or discomfort." Incredible; this reminds me of Melissa Febos's writing on empty consent, but you take it to such an embodied place.

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