Consent, explained. — Consent, explained. — Medium

"Who am I to explain consent to you? I’m very square, married, living in the suburbs with my hardworking husband, and an irritating cat. But about once a month, roughly 60 people show up to our house for an all-night orgy.

We have established a strong consent culture for these parties, to keep our guests safe and happy. Not surprisingly, (to us,) our clear consent rules have resulted in lots of happy sex that nobody feels bad about.

In light of the recent conversations I’ve seen about the Brock Turner trial, I now realize that most people do not fully understand consent. Almost every comment I have seen, whether in support or in anger towards Brock Turner, shows an alarming amount of ignorance about how consent works. I believe our community’s values may be helpful to others who are struggling to understand the consent violation that is core to this trial:

“Consent is always conditional on participants’ ability to revoke their consent.” ..."