She’d taken his name to the police despite the number of times they’d been together. Interesting…
We sat in the auditorium waiting for the western experts to come talk to the local African students union about consent. My temporary concerns were typical millennial type concerns; – I needed a source of power for my dying cell phone. I needed to post highlights of the conversation to my Instagram feed. I needed to note down key points. I finally found a power station and then turned my focus off the device to the humans around me.
My friend quickly analyzed the seating arrangements in the room and compared it to the African society only we had seen growing up, and which, only we, could quite conveniently dare analyze…The men sat up front in their burly suits, wearing their overall sense of self-importance around their necks like their stifling neckties. They carried equally bulky briefcases and wore shiny leather shoes that only they, could see their bloated self-reflections in. A pair of spectacles or two sat on tired noses. They were exhausted but determined to bombard the foreign experts with questions. ‘How dare you spoil our women with messages that will make them rebel? We’re here to cross-examine your intentions, first, it was feminism, now its consent…’
Behind them was the matriarchy, we sat expectant, speaking in loud tones and ready to jump on anyone who dared hush us up. This was our time, we had a voice, anyone who wasn’t with it didn’t understand women’s empowerment, we were here and our objective opinions were valid.
Behind us sat the newbies, a mixture of men and women who weren’t quite sure of their contribution or place in the group. Well, just yet…Beside me, a male in his late twenties started to engage me in small talk surrounding the language of consent.
Do our people really understand consent?
I honestly don’t think some African guys understand the language of consent.
Why?
I mean,….consent is always mostly left in that messy place between let me convince them a bit more or let me reason out with them on why they should probably be doing x or y with me. Also, I doubt consent is hardly only linked to sex, it mostly can be extended to most things in life like asking a person to dance with you and them half begging and shaming you for declining or forcibly grabbing you to dance, OR an uninvited male that thinks just because you’re out alone and a woman means you want ‘company’…you say no you can’t sit with me, yet, before you know it, oops sorry already sat down, not moving…
But sometimes the women mean yes when they say no…or what do you think? Really why do you think consent is one big blurry area in our part of the world? Aren’t our women ours?
It’s many things. I would say a part of it comes from sexism and the different reactions to what a person does based on their sex. Firstly, the concept of sex with enthusiasm begs many questions. Is this sex pre-marital or marital sex because we are schooled differently on how to react to these two types of sex. Sex education which is taught as a topic under the Religious and Moral Education course is full of Bible quotations and a tirade of do’s and don’ts. To summarize what we learn in this class, it simply remains at three words, – ‘DON’T DO IT’. Then, suddenly a person marries and is suddenly supposed to know what to do, or women become wives, remain pure and true while husbands daydream of that nasty mistress. Needless to say, women are taught to cater to EVERY need of the husband IF we want happy homes. Also, pre-marital sex is usually about sinning and asking for forgiveness later. The persons in question go in under a thick web of shame and guilt that sits on their shoulder, undresses with them and lays on the bed of fornication with them. Images of hell replay over and over and the sweltering heat of Ghana serves as a visual reminder of how hellish Hell will be if they do not repent. What enthusiasm will there be to show in a situation like that? Most importantly is the fact that the religious message surrounding sex is more severe on women than it is on men (read: through the backings of religion, women’s sexuality and not that of men’s is controlled). Maybe hypersexuality, zeal or interest is whorish. Maybe certain sex positions are not honorable enough for wives. Girlfriends and hoes are the ones that are deserving of being turned over like pieces of furniture, not pure wedded wives…All these combative reasons and more, push women to indirectly show interest in ways that can be misleading. The idea is that even if I am interested, I would not want to be won over easily…Let me show interest, but let me not be over the top interested otherwise, they may think I’m a hoe…
Yeah because I know about that myth that says that she may be saying no but she actually means yes…so what do we really do then?
No means no. Take the word for what it is and do nothing unless you are absolutely sure the person wants whatever is being offered. Yes, that is said in fear, under the influence of alcohol, under direct coercion and other undesirable situations do not equal consent. Also, no matter the number of times you’ve been together, consent is needed for EACH TIME, even if she is your wife or partner or if you think you own them because you paid for them.
What if I’m the one she relies on for everything? Do I not deserve some love?
Do you deserve or do you feel entitled?
Do you speak of male entitlement?
Yep,…dodon’t you think some males are entitled? Deserving something and being entitled to something are very different concepts…
True…
I was at a party and this guy wanted to talk to me, I was standing with a group and he walked up and asked for me to speak privately with him. I refused, and then he came back later to ask if I was ready this time. To show his insistence, he grabbed my forearm…was he deserving of or entitled to my attention? My friend got catcalled in the streets on her way home. She loves to show off her legs and she stands at about six feet one. She wore her mini jupe and set about her life’s activities. The catcalls were ignored but then she realized she’d soon gained a literal follower who was upset that she had ignored him previously. He pursued her until she got really frightened and called her mom. Did he feel entitled to her attention or did he deserve her attention?
That’s rough.
Yep. She always talks about it…I think she may need to talk to someone after this episode…
The experts are here…
I see them…
