Consent, Explained, for People Who Still Don’t Get It - the Root
Well, we kinda have been. And you’re right! These questions were pretty obvious and did seem rather stupid. It is very obviously a crime to take your friend’s car without explicit permission, even if he said it was cool yesterday. Or an hour ago. Or a minute ago, and then, 10 seconds later, changed his mind for whatever reason. Sexual consent works pretty much the same way. If you’re a man or a woman and you intend on having sex with a man or a woman, both parties need to consent. And that consent must occur while conscious. And currently. If, at any time, one person decides to change his or her mind—or is in a state of consciousness (sleep, inebriation, etc.) during which a choice can’t be made—continuing with sex is a crime.
Sure, stopping then would be annoying. And frustrating. Especially if you just bought some silk bedsheets from T.J. Maxx in anticipation of this occasion. (And the bedsheets have a no-return policy. Because T.J. Maxx knows that people are nasty. T.J. Maxx be knowing, man.) But it’s the right thing to do. And not just the right thing to do the way “recycling” and “occasionally volunteering to sleep in the wet spot” are the right things to do. But the right thing to do because the other thing—the wrong thing—is an actual crime. A much, much, much worse crime than car theft.
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