I can’t be the only person who notices how many boys seem to think they have a right to a woman’s body. I am not just saying it in general, I’m specifically talking when they are in a relationship.

I used to have a boyfriend who thought just because he was dating me, he had permission to my body whenever he pleased.  

Sometimes I would ask him to not touch me so much because I simply didn’t feel like being touched and he would say things like, “I’m your boyfriend I am allowed to touch you if I want.”  

When he would say these things, I would try to explain that he doesn’t and if I ask him not to touch me he should respect that. His response would typically be something like, “well I don’t understand, what’s the point of dating if I can’t touch you.”

This caused us to get into arguments on whether or not he should be allowed to touch me. Now I’m not talking about groping, truly forced touching, or anything like that. I mostly mean hand holding, butt slapping, and sometimes he would run up behind me in the hallway and hug me which would result in me falling forward, typically into my locker.  

I am not a big fan of touch, so the normal hand holding and all would really bother me, and I can see how that would be somewhat frustrating to someone, however just because it is frustrating you doesn’t mean you can disrespect someone else’s wants.  

Boys are not the only people who do this, I have heard a few girls saying some of the same things. By no means though is it every guy or every girl, there are just way people who act like this.

No matter the relationship you have with a person, you don’t have permission to someone else’s body. No one else is your property and you are no one else’s property.   

This brings up the topic of consent, you should ask someone if something is okay before you do it, and this goes for multiple different things. So with that does it mean you have to ask your partner’s permission every single time you want to touch them or interact with them?

Yes and no, if you want to hold their hand then hold their hand but if they say they don’t want to hold hands after you try… then don’t hold their hand! You won’t die if you don’t hold their hand right in that moment, and it will make your partner so much happier knowing you respect what they want.  

You do need consent for everything you do to someone, and in all honesty, the only way to achieve that is to ask for every little thing. However, I know that is never going to happen, no matter the person. Which is completely understandable considering we just adapt to things and it becomes a habit to always hold hands or hug, etc.  Also, the constant asking for everything starts to become an annoyance people.

Communication is important in a relationship, without it chances are your relationship won’t work.  Communication goes along with consent, if you don’t communicate and ask then you don’t know what your partner is okay with.  If you don’t know what they are okay with then you may end up doing something that don’t truly consent to.

So all in all, just make sure your significant other is comfortable with what is happening, and if they tell you that they don’t like something, respect them no matter how much you may not like it.  

And remember you do not have any rights to someone simply because of the relationship you have with them.