Photo Credit: The Aurora Center for Advocacy & Education
Current attention on the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements has pushed sexual consent into the spotlight. Many recent stories are urging us to reflect on our current sexual scripts and it has become increasingly apparent these scripts are flawed. Sexual scripts are the context in which consent is negotiated, so it is important to reflect on the literature regarding common consent practices.
If you have observed sexual consent negotiations, or lack thereof, within the media then it may come as no surprise to you how young adults have been navigating sexual encounters. When looking at young adults, research has shown indirect and nonverbal communication to be the most common approach to negotiating sexual consent. Typically, this looks like avoidance of direct conversations and relying solely on nonverbal and passive approaches. This method prevails due to the prevalent fear of rejection. When young adults perceived a possible negative reaction to their sexual communication they were less likely to use sexual consent behaviors. This highlights a current problem within our culture, which is the notion that establishing affirmative consent may be embarrassing. Therefore, we have been relying upon completely unreliable passive methods to establish sexual consent, such as “not resisting” as indicative of sexual consent.
On the other side of the coin, there is the notion of token resistance. Within the traditional heterosexual sexual script, men are to advance sexual contact, and women are to serve as “gatekeepers” for the sexual activity. Token resistance is the predominant idea that women within this script engage in resistant behaviors even though they want and intend to participate. However, this notion is proving to be more of a myth, research shows us token resistance is far from common. Most women denied ever using token resistance as a part of their sexual script.
Sadly, when token resistance was used by women, it was often to protect their sexual reputation for fear of being perceived “too sexually eager”.
This research shows us that as we continue to move forward within the #MeToo and Time’s Up movement it will be essential to encourage female sexual empowerment. True sexual consent can only thrive in a culture that encourages women to enthusiastically engage in sexual encounters, without shame or embarrassment.
Written by: Annika Johnson
References
Hickman, S. E., & Muehlenhard, C. L. (1999). "By the semi-mystical appearance of a condom": How young women and men communicate sexual consent in heterosexual situations. Journal of Sex Research, 36, 258-272. doi: 10.1080/00224499909551996
Humphreys, T. P. (2004). Understanding sexual consent: An empirical investigation of the normative script for young heterosexual adults. In M. Cowling & P. Reynolds (Eds.), Making Sense of Sexual Consent, (pp. 209-225). Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Jozkowski, K. N., & Peterson, Z. D. (2013). College students and sexual consent: Unique insights. Journal of Sex Research, 50, 517-523. doi:10.1080/00224499.2012.700739
Jozkowski, K. N., Peterson, Z. D., Sanders, S. A., Dennis, B., & Reece, M. (2014). Gender differences in heterosexual college students’ conceptualization and indicators of sexual consent: Implications for contemporary sexual assault prevention education. Journal of Sex Research, 51, 904-916. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2013.792326
