"... Ownable?"

"Is it really true that men perceive women as ownable?"

"Absolutely," Liz replied. "Despite the abolition of all forms of slavery more than a century ago, men as a whole still view women as something to be possessed. What this means varies, of course. For some men, they seek to own a woman through obligating sex from her through their relationship with her, whatever that relationship may be. Others maneuver women into situations where, physically, emotionally, or legally, the man holds control over them. Some even go so far as to treat a woman as their own private property. Does anyone feel comfortable sharing their own experience with this issue?"

More than half the young women in the room raised their hand, and the professor gestured to Veronica, a blonde near the front.

"I've been trying dating around the campus here, but three times now I've had to tell a guy off for demanding to see my schedule. Every time, they try to say they need to know what I'm doing and when they're 'responsible' for me, like two dates and a kiss gives them permission to make decisions about my life."

The heated student's outpouring earned sympathetic "yeah"s and groans through the room's female population. It was a decent example, but too many more like that and Liz knew the class would get off track complaining about exes. Besides, Cassie didn't look convinced, and even if Liz didn't hold out much hope for the girl, a better case would help the rest of the class.

"That illustrates fairly well how casual and pervasive the issue is among men. Does anyone have a different example? Sue?" The professor nodded her head at the demure young asian woman by the window with her hand raised.

"I, um, well I went to a private middle school and... One day, some boys decided to pull me into the school office and sit me down in the Lost and Found corner. They told the vice principal that they 'found' me and I needed to be returned. If the principal was there that day, she probably would have let me go, but the vice principal made me stay there. He said it was school policy that the staff do what it can so things go back to their rightful owners. Mom always picked me up, but he wouldn't even let her take me home, and we had to call my dad to come and 'claim' me."

Sue's face had gone red in embarrassment, and Liz hid a wince. That absolute toad was the very worst sort of traditionalist, as far as the professor could tell. The man was probably perpetually sour that men couldn't actually own women since his grandfather's generation.

"Alright," Cassie admitted. "There are plenty of pushy and old-fashioned guys out there, but..."

The skeptic turned to address Liz once more.

"For men to see women as 'ownable,' they'd have to actually be able to own them, and can you, again actually, say that men are able to own women?" Cassie asked.

Liz bit back a sigh.

"Unfortunately, there are multiple avenues through which a man may, in part or in whole, own a woman," she explained.

Liz watched as several of her students either turned their eyes away or glared at Cassie all the harder. Most had rather conspicuous 'chokers' or 'bracelets,' in fact. The professor decided on that as her next example.

"Who here is owned by a man in some way? Show of hands."

Liz watched as most of her class raised their hands.

"Alright, those of you who are still owned by your father or equivalent guardian?" Liz specified.

This group made up about two thirds of the class, which was about how many the woman expected.

"As you can see, in most cases a woman's father is granted ownership of her shortly after birth, as it protects them from other ownership claims. While this does work as a protective measure against most forceful claims or transferals, it also gives a father near unilateral authority in deciding his daughter's future ownership. All too often, a man will sell or transfer his daughter with little regard for her wishes, and this doesn't begin to cover situations where the government or a private corporation can loophole ownership of a woman in their favor."

One girl in the back looked near tears as she fingered the cloth collar around her neck, while another by the windows idly spun a bracelet around her wrist, her eyes locked on the small, stylized padlock dangling from it. Liz hated these moments, where young women saw the truth here in her classroom, but only far too late, only long after they had been hurt.

Surprisingly, it was one of her male students that raised his hand next.

"Tim?" She prompted.

"Right, uh, I can speak for that loophole business. After my dad died in an accident a few years ago, my mom and younger sister were transferred to me, but since I was a year underage at the time, there was a lot of arguing that I couldn't properly look after them. They nearly freed my mom, and since, well, there was a whole bunch of legal jargon. What it boiled down to was that she was somehow tied to the mortgage of the house, and if she was 'without proper ownership,' the bank could've repossessed her. It was a pretty close thing, actually."

"And it's very difficult to claim ownership back in such a situation, leading some families to be permanently separated," Liz finished. "Thank you, Tim. I hope that illustrates how serious this issue can be?"

The professor shot a glance at Cassie once more, but the girl was undeterred.

"Alright, sure, bad situations sometimes pop up regarding a woman's ownership, but those happen everywhere in any system. Loopholes take people's money, lose them jobs, that sort of thing. Compared to those..." Cassie trailed off as she ordered her words.