"... is being owned really objectification?"

"Compared to those, is being owned really objectification of women? Do men see us as sex objects just because they can own us?"

Liz couldn't hold back her sigh this time, but thankfully it was swallowed by the murmuring and groaning of her class. Holly on the front row offered her hand before the professor could even think how to address... that.

"Yes, Holly?"

The petite student wasted no time in whirling around to look Cassie in the eye.

"Of course they see us as sex objects; it's written right there into the legalese! Ask Tim, since he's apparently gone over it so much."

The boy who had only just shared his story of owning his mother and younger sister flushed at unexpectedly becoming the center of attention once more. After a few moments of fidgeting and searching for an ally, he met eyes with the professor. Apparently deciding that Liz was less scary than his classmates, he spoke up in a guarded tone.

"There's nothing wrong with that, right? Isn't it natural for things like that to happen when you own a woman?"

"That's right," Liz's words sent a wave of relief through the room, dispelling the growing tension. "While some... arrangements are discouraged from a biological standpoint, an owner is allowed to treat their possessed woman as a sex object."

"It's still damn annoying," Holly muttered out as she turned back around in her seat. Liz agreed far too much to chastise the young woman.

"If there's nothing wrong with an owned woman being used for sex, why are we supposed to be against it then?" Cassie asks, suddenly more confused than argumentative.

"No one is trying to say using an owned woman for sex is wrong. What women everywhere do argue is that their owners have too much authority over their lives outside of sex. As intelligent, capable people, women are just as deserving as men of the chance to attend schooling, to attain fair and gainful employment, and decide the course of their lives."

"But does being owned actually stop a woman from 'deciding the course of their lives'?" Cassie asked, her tone dipping toward derisive.

"It does," Liz confirmed. "With a word, a woman's owner can pull her from school or work, and has absolute authority on where she may go and what she may choose to do. Hence, why our class size is so small; most owners would see little value in letting their property discuss things like this."

Really, Liz was lucky to have a small classroom for this, because the handful of students would likely look even smaller in the regular lecture halls this building held. It was particularly disappointing how Sue had been pulled from the class after the second meeting. If any of the young women that attended this year needed help learning to stand up against objectification, it was the quiet girl who liked the spot by the window.

"That uncertainty can and will cause undue stress on a woman, often to the point of trauma. Everything in her life can be upended, and just about the only thing we can be certain of is that our owner will probably be having sex with us whenever he wants. Is that any way to live?"

The question puts Cassie on the defensive.

"It can't be all that bad! It's all lined up in legalese, so we have to have some protections. What, do you expect that they'll just suddenly put us up for auction as soon as class ends or something?"