Video: Explaining Sexual Consent, British Style
April 11, 2016 by Justin Lehmiller
“Whether it’s tea or sex, consent is everything.”
How should we teach people about sexual consent? This is a question that has been getting a lot of attention lately from scientists, politicians, and sex educators alike. Increasingly, one approach people have taken is to use analogies. Because sex is a topic that’s difficult for many people to discuss, the thought is that by analogizing it to something that’s perceived as less taboo or controversial, it has the potential to help bring more people into the conversation.
To that end, obtaining sexual consent has been likened to everything from sharing a pizza to taking a bike ride with someone. However, one of my personal favorites is a video produced by the Thames Valley Police in Britain likening sexual consent to offering a cup of tea to another person.
You can watch the full video below, but the main idea is that if you can understand the absurdity of trying to force people to drink tea when they don’t really want it (or when they’re incapable of drinking it), you can understand how sexual consent works, too. Check it out and use the Comments section to weigh in with your thoughts.
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Dr. Justin Lehmiller
Founder & Owner of Sex and PsychologyDr. Justin Lehmiller is a social psychologist and Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute. He runs the Sex and Psychology blog and podcast and is author of the popular book Tell Me What You Want. Dr. Lehmiller is an award-winning educator, and a prolific researcher who has published more than 50 academic works.
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