A short one today as my life is currently very complicated and conspiring against my preference to spend all of my days working out what to blog. But do you know what isnโt complicated?
Consent.
Itโs been much discussed recently; what with college campuses bringing in Affirmative Consent rules, and with the film of the book that managed to make lack of consent look sexy raking it in at the box office. You may not know this, but in the UK we more or less have something similar to โaffirmative consentโ already. Itโs how Ched Evans was convicted while his co-defendant was not โ and is along the lines of whether the defendant had a reasonable belief that the alleged victim consented. From the court documents it appears that while the jury felt that it was reasonable to believe that the victim had consented to intercourse with the co-defendant, it was not reasonable to believe that sheโd consented to intercourse with some random dude that turned up halfway through (Evans). The issue in the UK isnโt traditionally in the way itโs dealt with in court, but in the way it has been investigated โ new guidance was recently issued to try to improve this.
It seems like every time an article is written about consent, or a move made towards increasing the onus on the initiator of the sex to ensure that the person they are trying to have sex with, you know, actually WANTS to have sex with them, there are a wave of comments and criticisms.
It seems a lot of people really, REALLY donโt get what โconsentโ means. From the famous โnot everybody needs to be asked prior to each insertionโ to the student that (allegedly) thought heโd surprise his partner with some non consensual BDSM to that fucking song to almost every damn comment on any article by anyone that suggests that yes means yes; it seems people really have a problem understanding that before you have sex with someone, and thatโs everytime you have sex with them, make sure they want to have sex with you. This goes for men, women, everyone. Whoever you are initiating sexytimes with, just make sure they are actually genuinely up for it. Thatโs it. Itโs not hard. Really.
If youโre still struggling, just imagine instead of initiating sex, youโre making them a cup of tea.
You say โhey, would you like a cup of tea?โ and they go โomg fuck yes, I would fucking LOVE a cup of tea! Thank you!*โ then you know they want a cup of tea.
If you say โhey, would you like a cup of tea?โ and they um and ahh and say, โIโm not really sureโฆโ then you can make them a cup of tea or not, but be aware that they might not drink it, and if they donโt drink it then โ this is the important bit โ donโt make them drink it. You canโt blame them for you going to the effort of making the tea on the off-chance they wanted it; you just have to deal with them not drinking it. Just because you made it doesnโt mean you are entitled to watch them drink it.
If they say โNo thank youโ then donโt make them tea. At all. Donโt make them tea, donโt make them drink tea, donโt get annoyed at them for not wanting tea. They just donโt want tea, ok?
They might say โYes please, thatโs kind of youโ and then when the tea arrives they actually donโt want the tea at all. Sure, thatโs kind of annoying as youโve gone to the effort of making the tea, but they remain under no obligation to drink the tea. They did want tea, now they donโt. Sometimes people change their mind in the time it takes to boil that kettle, brew the tea and add the milk. And itโs ok for people to change their mind, and you are still not entitled to watch them drink it even though you went to the trouble of making it.
If they are unconscious, donโt make them tea. Unconscious people donโt want tea and canโt answer the question โdo you want teaโ because they are unconscious.
Ok, maybe they were conscious when you asked them if they wanted tea, and they said yes, but in the time it took you to boil that kettle, brew the tea and add the milk they are now unconscious. You should just put the tea down, make sure the unconscious person is safe, and โ this is the important bit โ donโt make them drink the tea. They said yes then, sure, but unconscious people donโt want tea.
If someone said yes to tea, started drinking it, and then passed out before theyโd finished it, donโt keep on pouring it down their throat. Take the tea away and make sure they are safe. Because unconscious people donโt want tea. Trust me on this.
If someone said โyesโ to tea around your house last saturday, that doesnโt mean that they want you to make them tea all the time. They donโt want you to come around unexpectedly to their place and make them tea and force them to drink it going โBUT YOU WANTED TEA LAST WEEKโ, or to wake up to find you pouring tea down their throat going โBUT YOU WANTED TEA LAST NIGHTโ.
Do you think this is a stupid analogy? Yes, you all know this already โ of course you wouldnโt force feed someone tea because they said yes to a cup last week. Of COURSE you wouldnโt pour tea down the throat of an unconscious person because they said yes to tea 5 minutes ago when they were conscious. But if you can understand how completely ludicrous it is to force people to have tea when they donโt want tea, and you are able to understand when people donโt want tea, then how hard is it to understand when it comes to sex?
Whether itโs tea or sex, Consent Is Everything.
And on that note, I am going to make myself a cup of tea.