Gender, Empowerment, & Sexuality Panel at Peace Conference

So today, I participated in a panel on gender, empowerment, & sexuality at Chicago's Peace Conference. I was attending as a spokesperson for the Voices and Faces Project and was tasked with giving a presentation on our organization's mission. My co-panelists included a woman who runs a feminist burlesque troop and a therapist who works with people transitioning lifestyles (particularly transgender and genderqueer people).

You are likely wondering how all of these different worlds came together. At first, I wasn't absolutely clear myself. But then I realized that the commonality of us all is promoting communication, openness and being comfortable in your own skin.

Rape survivors who are willing to speak out and tell their stories are integral in creating dialogues that promote change. So are women who dance and create their own definition of sexy and beautiful, no matter what their bodies look like. So are transgendered people who are able to shake off traditional gender roles to embrace a part of themselves that they've always hidden.

Here are a few of my slides from the panel:

After the panel, we opened up for questions. First question: "What are your thoughts on Fifty Shades of Grey?"

Oh dear.