Enthusiastic consent and communicating boundaries
Free and open communication and enthusiastic consent are the most important parts of having sex that is good and ethical. But this isn't something we see in media and culture very often. So, how does it work?
What is consent?
📗 Consent is an agreement between you and anyone else involved to engage in an activity together.
Consent is something that happens in every part of our lives, not just relating to sex. However, we focus mostly on sexual consent.
You have the right to make decisions about your own body, as does everyone. It’s up to you if you want to be touched, hugged, kissed, or have sex.
Consent is something that is generally not shown in TV, movies and other media ( including porn ), but it’s important. Consent can even be sexy. Imagine telling a partner exactly what you want to do with them and having them say "I want that too" with excitement.
Consent and Communication
What is enthusiastic consent?
Consent is about more than just "yes" and "no". It’s about both people really wanting it. An enthusiastic ‘yes’ is a ‘yes’ that you really mean. But more than that, for something to be truly consensual it needs to be freely given, reversible, informed, enthusiastic and specific. You can remember this using the acronym F.R.I.E.S.
In this section, we’ll explore what it means to give enthusiastic consent. You'll learn how to communicate what you want and what you don’t want when it comes to sex and intimacy.