You’ve read this before. You’ve seen this before. You’ve heard this battle cry before. Yet the world continues to be unkind, so we will continue to raise our voices.

I’ve known for a while that I’m broken by the world. We are all broken. Quite substantially.

And the world seemingly continues with its breaking.

One of the reasons for this shattering horizon on the heart-scape is the devaluation of the human being, the devaluation of the woman, the twisting of sanctity and a perpetuation of apathy.

Humanity has abhorred the name of woman, has turned the woman into an object, an animal, a toy.

My friends should be able to go on a run without getting catcalled.

My friends should be able to walk into Safeway without getting catcalled.

My friends should be able to do anything without getting catcalled.

She is not yours to shout at.

I should be able to walk down the street without being chased after for my number.

I should be able to walk down the sidewalk at night without fearing for my very existence.

I should be able to walk down the stepladder of life as a woman without being on edge every moment that my womanhood will be prodded at, objectified, and played with at the enjoyment of another.

I am not yours to have.

My friends shouldn’t feel like their desirability stems from their body. My friends should be able to exist on this planet without guys sending late night messages that make their skin crawl for weeks afterwards. My friends should not have to question the intentions of every single man they encounter because the intentions of so many have proven to be poisonously dehumanizing.

They are not yours to sink your teeth into.

The women of the world should not be bought. The women of the world should not be taken as if disposable. The women of the world should not be likened to a simple means of enjoyment.

The women of the world are not yours.

Yet this idea of ownership is what the world has implied with its magazines and its hookup culture and its modern slave trade. This is how the world has made the woman feel. This is what the world has done.

This is not to be condemning of men in any way, shape, or form. My main point here is the world’s treatment of the woman, because we are indeed handed the short straw in this reality, but I’d also like to point out that women can conversely objectify men, and that women are not the only ones that are bought and used and dehumanized, and that is also not okay. At all. I think humanity as a whole is guilty of this one way or another. This is to be condemning of hatred, of misogyny, of a culture that treats humans like bodies.

Another person’s body is not created for your pleasure.

There is not a single human person on this planet that was created for you.

We need to stop acting like anyone is ours to hunt, to possess, to degrade to sub-personhood.

Objectification can be of the mind, of the eyes, of the pretty blue messages you send with a click, of the comments you drop, of the persons you use, of the words that leave your lips and the thorns around your heart that pierce another’s human dignity so easily.

People are priceless. Human beings are sacred. Women are to be valued for this alone and for no other reason. The women of the world should be treated like the sparkling-hearted gifts that they are. As should men. As should those that don’t find themselves checking one of two boxes. As should any person, regardless of their gender or sexuality or appearance or fill in the blank.

This is a push for humanity. For respect. For a basic upholding of human dignity. I don’t have fancy words to tie this plea up in shiny bows, so I’ll leave you with one:

Love.