Despite what you may often hear, much of the world has made huge progress in understanding sexual violence, and educating ourselves around the topic of consent. As an example, in the mid eighties, nearly half of American young men thought a man who is raped by a woman, finds such an experience “pleasurable”. A shockingly high number. However, that same question, when asked of male students of the same university in 2019, found just 5.8% of men felt this way. Of course, that is still 5.8% too many, and work needs to be done, but it’s impossible not to notice the huge, positive progress that is right in front us. But the story is not over. Because the same survey polled women in the mid eighties too, and found them to be decades ahead of men in terms of understanding consent, with only 5% of women believing a man enjoyed being raped by a woman. However, when this was asked of today’s women, again from the same university, in 2019, an astonishing 25% (!) of women now agreed – five times more than in 1984. Yes, in some areas, it seems where men have made progress, women have slipped behind. So, could this be down to sexual violence and consent workshops overwhelmingly targeting boys, and so rarely girls? Could this be the unintended result of a generations long conversation around consent, that only calls to “educate your sons”, and never your daughters? And should we not educate all children, and all adults, about sexual violence and consent, rather than just one half of the world’s population? What do you think? ~ Full podcast with Chris Hemmings from @menstherapyhub here https://tinyurl.com/3evhwz8a Study https://tinyurl.com/2rujb55c

2025-11-28