Liberalism vs Social-Authoritarian Leftism: Consent Culture

I'm continuing my series on liberalism vs social-authoritarian leftism.  I consider large swaths of the left to have become socially-authoritarian and illiberal.  I see them using social violence to force their politics, which is why I say that they're social-authoritarians.  The group that I've come to call the Social Violence Warriors are abusive and illiberal.  I feel that they've betrayed the left and betrayed America.  This post is on "consent culture".

 

There's more than one way to be on the left.

 

I absolutely believe in consent.  Of course, before we touch someone erotically, for example, we should make sure they're okay with us doing that.  That's just basic common sense.

 

I never heard the term "consent culture" until a few years ago and the term baffles me.  A rather oily seeming guy in my community suggested that we should all attend classes on "consent culture".  My retort is that I don't need a special class to know not to murder or steal, and we don't need special classes to respect other people's boundaries.

 

Consent is Built-in to our Culture

 

Classic liberalism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism) is an inherent part of western culture.  Consent is built into liberalism.  It's common sense that we can't take things that aren't ours or aren't freely given.  In other words, we can't take something from another unless they consent to it.  We can't physically hurt someone unless they consent to it (BDSM is the only exception I know to assault), or unless it's the only option to keep the other person from physically hurting us (self-defense).  We can't burn down a building the owner hasn't consented to allow to be burned down (that would be arson).  Our laws, both criminal and civil, have consent built into them as defining qualities.

 

I realize this may be an odd thing to say when in the wake of President Trump, who freely and openly sexually molested women, but that's the political insanity of our times rather than something inherent in our culture.  It's a sign that our culture is breaking down, not a sign that it's flawed (though I'm perfectly willing to admit it has flaws).

 

It's obvious to anyone in our culture, who isn't a sociopath, that everyone has the right to set boundaries about anything, including touch.  Anyone who violates those boundaries is, then, immediately seen correctly as the barbarians they are.  Treating "consent culture" as something non-obvious only serves to allow barbarians to look civilized. 

 

Respecting Women in Sex-Positive Culture

 

Often when women talk about how they find it sexist if men don't "respect them".  Sex-positive women are referring, correctly, to men who won't see them as human beings.  However, I fear that other women have fallen back into old puritanical, sex-negative thought patterns.  In a sex-positive culture, for a man to desire a woman sexually and to show it is not in and of itself disrespectful, and therefore not sexist.  If sex is fundamentally good, showing sexual desire is also fundamentally good. 

 

Of course, there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to do so.  Nobody likes their sex organs being stared at, for instance.  It's also certainly disrespectful to take someone else for granted, rather than to realize that they might be in a monogamous relationship with someone, or they may simply not return our sexual feelings.  My point is that respect in a sex-positive culture looks very different from respect in a sex-negative one.  That is, it's not the sexual-ness that makes a given interaction disrespectful.  There are good sex-positive manners that signal things such as that we'll respect boundaries, that we see the human whole, not just the parts, that we don't presume that everybody just wants to get laid, that we'll respect everyone's right to approach sex in their own way (poly- or mono-, committed or casual, short term, or long term, gay, hetero, bi, etc.), and so forth.  If you're poly, it's rude to come on to someone who you know is mono and taken.  If someone wants hookups, it's rude for them to pursue someone whom they know is not.  Sex-positive manners require that we respect everyone.  But that's just basic, common-sense ethics.

 

What about People who Violate Consent?

 

There are certainly people who violate other people's consent.  There are also murders, robbers, arsonists, and so forth.  However, it's common sense that all of these people are immoral, including those who violate other people's consent.

Conclusion

 

We don't need some special, extra "consent culture" in order to respect other people's boundaries.