Consent

I recently watched a podcast that discussed a young lady that was assaulted after respectfully refusing a man’s advances and I thought I would take a moment to discuss consent.  For far too long society has had a toxic understanding of consent and refusal; from presence in certain situations, implied discussions, game playing, coercion, etc.  On the count of three can we all just start saying what we want, like PLEASE!  Insecure men have been slandering and assaulting women for years, to the point where women are afraid to reject men, and even upon rejection some do not accept that and try to push/manipulate the situation.  Stop.  Every person has the right to choose who they want and how they want to interact with said person, however honesty is key.  There is so much hurt as a result of games played by selfish/self-centered people with agendas.  Let’s value ourselves so much that we want to interact with people that want to interact with us; and let’s show respect to each other by not pretending to entertain someone you are not really interested in.  If you are bored, read a book, watch paint dry, play in traffic; whatever floats your boat, but stop playing games with people-your kids are watching and learning from you.  Stop toxic patterns!  This has been my TED Talk.