Five Questions with Jodie Layne

What motivates you?

Badass teenagers, people surviving and resisting oppression, proving haters wrong, and dreaming of a world where women don’t expect to be sexually harassed or assaulted.

What do you do for a living, and why?

I coordinate a program that engages men and boys in ways to end domestic violence and am also a sex educator at an adult boutique and a sex columnist because I believe in both prevention and community-building and the radical possibilities of pleasure, babe.

What TED talk do you think everyone should watch?

The danger of a single story: Chimamanda Adichie

Why are you excited to speak at TEDxManitoba?

There is nothing quite like the buzz of TED and the amazing people in the room — getting to add my voice to the idea soup and share something important and relevant to people’s daily lives and the causes I live for? The most exciting!

What is your idea worth spreading?

Promoting pleasure and sexual agency, especially to women, can aid in reducing sexual assault. By teaching that sex should feel good and it should be exciting, fun, and communicative we remove some of the stigma and shame of sex. Making prevention positive and pleasurable isn’t just applicable to rape, but can help influence the way we do prevention across the board.