Meet the Christians Countering ‘Your Body, My Choice’

Megan Boyd wasn’t surprised when she first heard her child Daisy describe the phrase “your body, my choice” being used at school. Saddened, yes. Disappointed, absolutely. But for Boyd, the surge in misogynistic rhetoric following the election was just another sign of a growing boldness she’d seen in her New Hampshire town.

“It felt like there was kind of this permission to say the quiet stuff out loud now,” Boyd told Sojourners.

Daisy, a ninth grader, told Sojourners they encountered the phrase at high school almost immediately after the election. It was used mostly by boys, sometimes as a joke, sometimes with chilling sincerity.

“There was a kid in my Spanish class wearing a very right-wing shirt,” Daisy said. “He argued with one of the girls and said, ‘Well, your body, my choice.’ I know he meant it.”

The slogan, which gained traction online after being popularized by Far-Right influencer Nick Fuentes, twists the reproductive-choice rallying cry “my body, my choice” into a message steeped in control, hostility, and misogyny. While it originated on social media, the slogan has quickly made its way off the internet, migrating into streets, classrooms, and other spaces.

Daisy was not alone in witnessing the unsettling spread of this trend. During a youth group meeting at their church, St. Matthew’s Episcopal, several students voiced similar concerns about hearing the slogan at their schools. Rev. Jason Wells, who leads the group, quickly realized they needed to pause their planned lesson.

“I wanted to make space for them to unpack what it meant to hear that,” Wells said. “It wasn’t just offensive; it felt threatening. These kids needed to talk about what they were experiencing and how to respond.”

Wells and the group discussed the importance of finding trusted authority figures to report such incidents, as well as how to support one another in moments that felt overwhelming. For Daisy, this acknowledgment of the harm caused by the slogan was a relief.

“It was helpful just to know I wasn’t the only one hearing it,” they said. “Talking about it with others took a huge weight off my shoulders.”

While faith communities like Wells’s youth group are working to create safe spaces for open dialogue, the challenge extends beyond individual support systems. Kate Ott, a Christian ethicist who studies the intersection of technology, ethics, and youth, said rhetoric like “your body, my choice” often transcends digital spaces, with significant offline consequences.

“People think these are just things said online, but the harm is real and immediate,” Ott said. “When online selves are attacked, it’s no less impactful than if someone were standing in front of you saying the same thing. These slogans perpetuate a sense of control and hostility that’s deeply damaging, especially for young women.”

Ott pointed out that trends like this also disproportionately target marginalized groups while emboldening young men to adopt harmful views of masculinity. She argued that churches and faith-based organizations have a responsibility to address these issues head-on.

“It seems like it only takes negative events for our Christian faith communities to say it’s time we talk about sexuality,” Ott said. “But if young people don’t have a positive view of sexuality, how do they counter these negative views?”

Ott said that churches often avoid addressing topics like gender, consent, and relationships until a crisis forces their hand, leaving young people without the tools they need to navigate harmful narratives.

“If we’re only addressing what’s wrong, we’re missing the opportunity to help the youth envision what they want in the world,” she said.

She recommends that faith communities and youth groups talk openly about healthy sexuality, positive relationships, and how to cultivate those things. Young men and boys, she said, especially need support to counter the misogynistic and patriarchal messages they hear elsewhere.

Church-based curriculum on sexuality

Programs like Our Whole Lives, a sexuality education curriculum co-published by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ, take a proactive approach to fostering respect, bodily autonomy, and inclusivity. Melanie Davis, the program manager, told Sojourners that the curriculum introduces these values through age-appropriate lessons designed to guide participants toward healthy relationships and self-awareness.

“The workshops for grades seven through nine include lessons on bullying, consent, the internet and social media, and communicating with a partner,” Davis said. “For grades 10 through 12, workshops expand to cover healthy relationships, consent, and communication online and in person.”

These sessions provide teens with the tools to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics while emphasizing the importance of respect and accountability. Davis also emphasized the importance of creating respectful and safe learning environments. Each session begins with participants creating group agreements that outline expectations for behavior.

“Facilitators are encouraged to post those agreements during each workshop and call attention to them if anyone is disrespectful or says something that goes against the spirit of the OWL values,” she said.

Recognizing the vital role of parents in shaping their children’s understanding, OWL provides a range of resources to support families so that parents can be “aware of what’s in the curriculum and can reinforce it at home.”

The program offers curated book and website lists, an Under Your Wing video series for parents of younger children, and a free downloadable course called Parents and Caregivers As Sexuality Educators.

Davis believes a comprehensive, community-based approach is essential.

“Remember the saying, ‘It takes a village to raise a child?’ It’s true of sexuality education as well,” she said. “Families, faith leaders, and entire communities can offer consistent messaging about the importance of sexual health, respectful interactions and relationships, body autonomy and consent, and attractions and gender identity.”

But Ott believes addressing these issues also requires a broader cultural shift, particularly in how communities engage with young cisgender men.

“Too often, we assume ‘boys will be boys,’” she said. “Instead, we need to hold them accountable and teach them to respect the image of God in others.”

At their high school, Daisy said the slogan has mostly faded since its post-election peak, but the memory lingers. They remain grateful for the support of their youth group and hope that schools will take a more active role in addressing such rhetoric in the future.

“It shouldn’t take a crisis for people to talk about these things,” Daisy said. “If we can start having these conversations earlier, maybe we can stop trends like this from getting so far.”