ABSTRACT

The #MeToo movement has shined light on sexual harassment and assault, creating new avenues for survivors to seek justice, outside of the justice system. People (mostly men) accused of sexual assault or harassment are publicly ‘outed’, and the consequence have been serious for many. #MeToo stresses that ‘rape is a man’s issue’, arguing that men can end rape by educating themselves about gendered power, changing their behaviour, and holding other men accountable. In this contentious context, affirmative consent policies are taking root in US universities. In this paper, we ask, How does gender frame the negotiation of consent? We analyse data from our interview project on sexual consent (N = 45) to explore gendered power dynamics in subjects’ reported negotiations of sexual consent. We find that participants’ understandings of consent reinforced – rather than destabilized – hegemonic systems of power. Even when acting in ways that seemed consistent with feminist conceptualizations of bodily autonomy and affirmative consent, men in this study did so to protect their own interests. Affirmative consent was mediated through gender frames that stressed men’s sexual entitlement. We conclude that sexual assault intervention strategies need to be reworked to address systemic, cultural, and individual-level issues.

摘要

#MeToo运动为性骚扰和殴打提供了亮光，为幸存者在司法系统之外寻求正义提供了新途径。被指控遭受性侵犯或性骚扰的人（大多数为男性）被公开“流离失所”，其后果对许多人来说是严重的。#MeToo强调“强奸是男人的问题”，认为男人可以通过教育自己了解性别权力，改变其行为并追究其他男人的责任来结束强奸。在这种有争议的背景下，肯定同意政策已在美国大学中扎根。在本文中，我们问，性别如何构成同意谈判？我们分析了来自访谈项目的有关性同意的数据（N = 45），以探讨受试者报告的性同意谈判中的性别力量动态。我们发现，参与者对同意的理解加强了而不是使不稳定的霸权体系。即使采取的行动似乎与女权主义对身体自治和肯定同意的观念相符，本研究中的男性也这样做是为了保护自己的利益。肯定性同意通过强调男性性权利的性别框架进行调解。我们得出结论，需要重新制定性侵犯干预策略，以解决系统性，文化性和个人性问题。肯定性同意通过强调男性性权利的性别框架进行调解。我们得出结论，需要重新制定性侵犯干预策略，以解决系统性，文化性和个人性问题。肯定性同意通过强调男性性权利的性别框架进行调解。我们得出结论，需要重新制定性侵犯干预策略，以解决系统性，文化性和个人性问题。