Consent is a good thing.
What is it, exactly?
It’s the act of specifically saying “yes” to sexual relations while unimpaired enough by drugs or alcohol to do so.
If you’ve seen the comic strip about consent Upworthy recently published, you probably pumped your fist with righteous delight that someone figured out how to make absolutely clear the case for consent.
But then maybe you wondered, “But how does a person go about asking for consent?”
At least some Upworthy readers did. Here’s what a couple of them suggested.
Ask and ye shall receive, you sharp, inquisitive, consent-championing readers!
GIF from “Parks and Recreation.”
This guy has seven surefire ways to work consent into your mojo.
And if you just can’t watch this right now, OK.
Instead, here’s the advice one woman (ahem! me) gave her son in a letter — and it’s applicable to sexual relations between any combination of genders:
“Check in with her! ‘Do you want to be doing this?’ is a great thing to ask when things are going to another sexual level. The worst thing that will happen is she’ll rethink it and say, no, she’s actually not ready. It’s important at that point to pivot to doing something else together, and not make her feel guilty for changing her mind. While that may feel like a bummer to you in the moment, what you’ve just achieved there is fucking badass. You’ve just put someone else’s feelings ahead of your physiological desires. You’ve just treated somebody the way you hope another guy would treat your sister.”
See? Consent is really just Decent Person 101 kind of stuff. You’ve got this.
If you know a person who needs to think about this, pass it on!
