3 Night Stand with Respect.Now.Always FT. VERTIGO’S REVIEW 001
by Olivia Mathis CW: Sexual references, sexual assault, violence, alcohol
NON-FICTION
This article originally appeared in UTSoC’s The Comma, and is reproduced here with permission.
The assumption that we understand all there is to know about consent underestimates just how impactful, meaningful and information-packed a single concept can be. In a sexual context, we generally understand consent through its succinct, but over-simplified, definition: an agreement between two (or more) participants to engage in sexual activity. Of course, this definition is correct, however, consent is much more multi-dimensional than a single agreement.
002 Just when I thought I knew pretty much everything there was to know about consent, I was invited to a Respect.Now.Always panel on the very subject. The panel, ‘Uncensored: Exploring the Edges of Sex,’ featured: Kim Cumms, a porn actress and erotic filmmaker, Mistress Tokyo, a professional dominatrix, and Professor Alan McKee, a professor in the UTS Arts and Social Sciences faculty. I mean, if you want to learn more about a subject, who better to learn from than professionals who teach and practice it on a regular basis? I was invited to a subsequent interview with Kim Cumms and Mistress Tokyo to ask the attendees’ most popular questions, and was not disappointed in the amounts of interesting and important information that I was able to take away.
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Defining consent. Consent in the context of alcohol. Non-verbal consent. The experiences of sex-workers in a professional and personal environment. These topics and many more were explored during the night. So, I present to you my takeaway from the ‘Uncensored’ panel. Also, did I mention that free ice-cream was given out to attendees? What a night!
