37-The Tricky Thing About Consent

 It seems simple that a man shouldn’t make sexual advances without a woman’s consent, yet we live in a culture that often sends men the opposite message. In the midst of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, we examine what we can do to make the world a safer place for all people when it comes to sex.

David Wong's "7  Reasons Why So Many Guys Don't Understand Consent" digs deeper into why consent can be so difficult to understand, regardless of the simplicity of the Consent is like Tea video. 

Jacqueline & Sara reference Peggy Orenstein's book Schoolgirls as they're unpacking Wong's article and how girls can't really say "No" until they're fully able to say "Yes".

That leads them to the conclusion that the base of the issues around consent have to do with shame around sex in general for women in particular.  Judith Plaskow, in The Coming of Lilith, shares a rewrite of Leviticus 18 that addresses the need to have conversations about sex and boundaries around sex, but in a positive way that promotes health rather than protects predators.

Listen to the episode here-- but read the David Wong piece first.  Seriously.  Do it.