Sexual consent contracts are making headlines this week, with “consent kits”–fully decked out with condoms and contracts–being distributed to students at several US universities, hoping to promote consent culture.
The kits are being distributed by an advocacy group called The Affirmative Consent Project, cost only $1.99, and include not only condoms and contracts, but a pen and breath mints! In addition to signing your names, the contract asks you to take a photo that includes both parties (or more– ménage à trois should be consensual too!) holding the signed contract, if possible.
While signing a contract before you have sex may seem extreme, their availability marks a great step toward diminishing rape culture and slaying the normalization of coercive sex.
There is also a new app being launched called We-Consent, in which users can log their consent. To do so, users state their names on camera, and are asked to reply yes or no when the app asks if they are offering their consent. If both parties are clearly heard saying “yes,” the app responds with a perky, “Consent confirmed. Have fun.”
Talk about consent in the digital age! While some argue these measures are a bit of a buzz kill, unfortunately, in some situations they may be necessary, and I am stoked to see progress in a culture so steeped in misunderstanding of what it actually means to have consensual sex.
In celebration of the recent progressions, let’s peruse some of the greatest consent memes, shall we?
So, would you ask a date to sign a consent form? Would you order a consent kit? Weigh in in the comments!
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