{"id":360,"date":"2013-10-28T21:50:10","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T04:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.morethantwo.com\/blog\/?p=360"},"modified":"2026-02-14T19:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T03:40:16","slug":"guest-post-on-consent-in-romantic-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.morethantwo.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/guest-post-on-consent-in-romantic-relationships","title":{"rendered":"Guest post: On consent in romantic relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note:<\/strong> This blog post has been translated into Italian! The Italian version is here<\/a>. You can also read Shelly’s other guest post here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: This essay was written by Shelly Deforte, who also\u00a0wrote this essay about family<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0In the years since it went up, I have been made aware of considerable, substantive, and credible abuse allegations about her. In addition, while she talks about family, she has also exercised veto power over other people in her romantic network. I would advise readers to read this essay with that in mind, and to remember that people do not always live up to their own ideals.<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

Consent is a radical idea<\/b><\/p>\n

I would like for this to be the shortest discussion ever. I would like to say that we each have an inalienable right to have domain over our bodies, minds, and choices and end the conversation there. I mean, good people don\u2019t violate consent, and I\u2019m a good person, right?<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s not really so simple. If there\u2019s one common thread through human history, it\u2019s that we are, collectively, really comfortable<\/i> violating consent. As children, we are often violated physically, emotionally, legally<\/i>. As much as we are told that we always have choice, we often find that the choice is between homelessness and an abusive working environment or an abusive living situation. As much as we seem to have finally reached some kind of consensus that rape is wrong, we still seem to be having a cultural dialogue about the kinds of circumstances under which it might actually be deserved<\/i>.<\/p>\n

We may encounter many situations in our lives where we have to put walls up and just absorb the loss of control over our lives, our minds, or our bodies. But the one place where we should never have to do that is in our loving relationships. This may on the surface, seem obvious, but make no mistake–this is a radical idea.<\/p>\n

Axiom #1<\/p>\n

The people in the relationship are more important than the relationship.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Consent is about me<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of fuzzy usage around the word consent. I would like to propose a tightening of the definition, because if we are not clear about what consent is, we cannot possibly succeed in communicating about it.<\/p>\n

Consent is about me: my body, my mind, and my choices. My consent is required to access the things that I own. You do not need my consent to act, because I do not own your body, your mind, or your choices. However, if your behavior crosses into my personal space, then you need my consent.<\/p>\n

If my romantic partner goes out and sleeps with a dozen random hookups, he may have broken an agreement<\/i>, but he has not violated my consent. If he then has sex with me without telling me about his actions, he has violated my consent because he has deprived me of the ability to make an informed choice.<\/p>\n

You cannot understand consent without understanding boundaries<\/b><\/p>\n

My boundaries are the edges of me. What is my personal space? What is it that I alone own, and you must always have permission to access?<\/p>\n

This is somewhat personal, and we often don\u2019t know where our boundaries are until they have been crossed. But I think you can roughly divide personal boundaries into three categories: My body, my mind, and my choices.<\/p>\n

Axiom #2<\/p>\n

Poor personal boundaries are damaging to the self.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My body<\/b><\/p>\n

We all have an intuition about where our physical boundaries are. Our boundaries may start at our skin, or the point where we can feel breath. They may begin on the other side of the room. It is the point where we feel touched and physically affected by another person. When we share physical space with others, which we often do in community spaces, we may need to sometimes choose not to share that space depending on where our boundaries need to be at the time. You have the right to decide if, how, and when you want to be touched. Always.<\/p>\n

In romantic relationships we often negotiate shared physical space. If touch begins beyond our skin, we may need to negotiate some space that we can control. For some people, this may be a room of one’s own. For some, it might be as simple as asking for some quiet time on the couch. However, without individual space, or the ability to negotiate for individual space when you need it, the only option for exerting a physical boundary may be to leave the shared space.<\/p>\n

My mind<\/b><\/p>\n

This is your mental and emotional experience of the world, your memories, your reality, and your values. When we engage the world, we let people into this personal space. Finding the edges of your mind is trickier than finding your physical edges. We are social creatures, and even the most superficial interactions engage our mental and emotional boundaries. The boundaries of the mind are, on the one hand, the easiest for others to cross over into, and also the boundaries we have the most control over.<\/p>\n

\u201cSticks and stones may break my bones, but words can make me think I deserve it\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s easy to say \u201cdon\u2019t give people so much power to hurt you,\u201d but that does not address our need for connection and acceptance. It does not account for the very healthy impulse to seek feedback on our perceptions of the world. I believe that the healthiest person, when persistently rejected, will witness either an erosion of their mental boundaries or an erosion of their ability to engage in intimacy. I also believe that the only way to maintain good mental boundaries, to counteract social rejection, and to assess when to disengage, is to have strong self-knowledge and self-confidence, and to engage in self-compassion and care. In other words, to engage in behaviors that build your self-esteem.<\/p>\n

Axiom #3<\/p>\n

Solid mental boundaries require self-esteem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When we engage in intimate relationships, we let people into our minds. We open up our mental boundaries. We let a chosen few affect us, deeply. This is beautiful and amazing, and in my opinion, is one of the things that makes life worth living<\/i>. But your mind belongs to you and you only. Your intimate partners, your family, your boss and the woman at the grocery store only ever get it on loan, and if that intimacy is damaging you, you have the right to take it back. Always.<\/p>\n

Setting mental boundaries is different than setting physical boundaries. When I set a physical boundary, I am exerting some control over what you do with your body as it pertains to my space. Do not touch me there, do not move closer to me, leave my home. But with emotional boundaries, we have to take care to not make others responsible for our mental state. When we tell another person \u201cdo not say or do things that upset me,\u201d we are not setting boundaries, we are trying to manage people whom we have let too far into ours. This management, and the high stakes of being responsible for another\u2019s psychological well being, quickly introduce coercion into a relationship, and coercion erodes consent. Should we make requests of others to maximize our emotional health? Yes! Should we try to honor those requests if we can do so in a healthy way? Yes! Are you responsible for my wellbeing and what I feel? No.<\/p>\n

My choices<\/b><\/p>\n

At every fork in the road, each of us will bring our own values and experience to an examination of the information available. How we approach this process, and the conclusions we come to, is a large part of what makes us who we are.<\/p>\n

I am a collection of experiences, memories, preferences, and feelings. I am one of billions of unique ways to process reality. But I am also the sum of my choices. My choices are the place where I stop dreaming and start pursuing, where I stop planning and start building. Choice, in my opinion, is where human beings become truly beautiful, and sometimes truly terrible.<\/p>\n

Choice can be the most difficult personal boundary to defend. It seems like the predominant belief is that if we are empowered to make our own choices, we will all become monsters, and we must entrust our decisions to external authority. This permeates our society and seems to inform the way we build relationships. Without engaging in a debate about whether people are fundamentally good or bad (or option C), I ask you to look at your partner and ask yourself if you respect their ability to choose, even if it hurts you, and even if it\u2019s not what you would choose.<\/p>\n

Axiom #4<\/p>\n

You cannot consent if you do not have a choice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When we enter into a romantic relationship, we make a choice. Over time, we build a life. This may involve legal and financial commitments and responsibilities. When we make those commitments, we should do what we reasonably can to follow through. But there is a difference between life-building and intimacy. Consent is about intimacy, and in every moment of every day, we should feel that we have a choice in the intimacy we participate in.<\/p>\n

Consent exists in the moment\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

You cannot pre-consent. You can state intentions. You can make commitments that don\u2019t involve your personal boundaries. But consent exists right now, right here in this moment. Let\u2019s say I tell my partner \u201cI want to have sex in five minutes. If you want to, I will definitely 100% want to have sex with you. I guarantee you that it is absolutely 100% ok. I commit to it. Here is a notarized piece of paper with my signature.\u201d And then let\u2019s say in five minutes, I say \u201cno.\u201d If my partner has sex with me anyways, it\u2019s rape. (If you engage in consensual non-consent, you will recognize that you still have to negotiate a safe word or a way to recognize when consent has been revoked. If you don\u2019t, you\u2019ve crossed into abuse.)<\/p>\n

Axiom #5<\/p>\n

Previous consent for intimacy never, ever overrides withdrawal of consent in the present.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve given a pretty extreme example, but one that hopefully everyone will agree with. However, we often make all kinds of agreements to future intimacy and then proceed like those agreements override our boundaries in the moment.<\/p>\n

Coercion erodes choice<\/b><\/p>\n

Being in a consensual romantic relationship means you are never committed to any future intimacy. In a consensual romantic relationship, you always choose<\/i> the intimacy you engage in. Intimacy is anything that enters into your personal boundaries. It can be sleeping together, sex, hugging and kissing, emotional sharing, living together, having certain shared experiences, or making shared choices.<\/p>\n

Again, you can state intentions<\/i>, but you cannot pre-consent, and both people must recognize and respect personal boundaries right now, regardless of intentions stated in the past. The reason this is so important is that when there is an implied obligation, the relationship can easily become coercive.<\/p>\n

It is actually really difficult to avoid coercion in romantic relationships, because boundaries are most likely to be set during the times when intimacy is already in trouble and there\u2019s a lot to lose. When relationships are good, they make us better, they make our lives bigger, and it\u2019s easy to forget about our boundaries, because there is no reason to enforce them. When communication erodes, when trust comes into question, when we feel out of control or deeply unhappy, and then one or both people try to set a boundary, it can be terrifying.<\/p>\n

What does coercion look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coercion is when you make the consequences to saying \u201cno\u201d to intimacy so great that it removes any reasonable choice. There is more obvious coercion, such as threats, either externally or internally directed. But I find that coercion just sort of organically arises when you believe that your partner, in that moment, owes<\/i> you intimacy. If you think your partner owes you intimacy, and you are just \u201cexpressing your feelings,\u201d there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019re being coercive. If your partner says \u201cno,\u201d and you start preparing for a fight instead of accepting their choice, you\u2019re probably going to be coercive.<\/p>\n

If your partner is trying to set an intimacy boundary, they probably have a very good reason<\/i>. It might not even be about you. The chances that your partner has had their consent violated in their life are really high, and it may have been really bad<\/i>. Show appreciation for your partner\u2019s self-advocacy and self-knowledge, be grateful for the intimacy they have<\/i> shown you, and make it clear that you respect their autonomy and ability to make choices, even if you don\u2019t understand what\u2019s happening or why.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also possible they are being manipulative and using boundary-setting as a way to coerce you<\/i>. Withdrawal and silence are classic techniques of emotional blackmail and can be initially difficult to distinguish from healthy boundary-setting. It\u2019s even possible they are setting boundaries just to punish you<\/i>.<\/p>\n

But you know what? It doesn\u2019t matter. The solution is never to try to force someone to do something they don\u2019t want to do. Thank them, and respect their choice. If you can\u2019t respect their choice, it\u2019s time to examine your own boundaries.<\/p>\n

Why you shouldn\u2019t lie<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to take a little bit of a detour here to talk about the intersection between mental\/emotional privacy, choice, and consent. When you enter a romantic relationship, I believe there is one kind of intimacy that you must participate in, and if you find that you can no longer participate in it, you have a responsibility to end the relationship. I\u2019m referring to honest, open communication.<\/p>\n

Being able to share, to the best of your ability, who you are<\/i> in a relationship, is critical for that relationship to be consensual. You must give your partner the opportunity to make an informed decision to be in that relationship. If you lie to your partner or withhold critical information, you remove their ability to consent to be in the relationship. The important information that needs to be shared should be negotiated early and is unique to each relationship.<\/p>\n

Most important is to communicate those things that might be deal-breakers, or might be threatening to your partner\u2019s emotional or physical health. Your partner deserves to have the ability to make a choice about how they want to participate in the relationship given the new information. Examples might be sexual behavior with others, drug use, the acquisition or use of weapons, violent impulses or behavior, or depression or suicide attempts.<\/p>\n

You can force someone to make a certain choice, or coerce them into that choice, but if you lie or withhold information from a partner, you deny them even the ability to know there was<\/i> a choice to be made.<\/p>\n

Fear, the telltale sign<\/b><\/p>\n

Why am I so afraid in this relationship when there\u2019s no imminent physical danger?<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you find yourself asking yourself this question, check your boundaries. Do you know where they are? How much power have you given to others to affect your well-being, your self esteem, even your desire to live? Remember, when you give someone the power to affect you and to come into your mind, you are only loaning what belongs to you. If you are afraid, you have given too much. When you look forward, do you see choices? Is leaving the relationship a viable option? Is changing the relationship a viable option? Is setting boundaries a viable option? What happens when I say \u201cno\u201d?<\/p>\n

You see plenty of relationships fall apart in sadness, anger, hurt, and feelings of betrayal. It is unnerving when a relationship becomes permeated by fear, but I believe this is often the trajectory of a relationship that lacks consent. It\u2019s from here that we begin to bend ourselves around our fears instead of embracing our dreams.<\/p>\n

Axiom #1<\/p>\n

The people in the relationship are more important than the relationship.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If there is one safe place in the world, it should be with the people you love. I\u2019m not talking about the safety of guarantees, but the safety to be everything that you are. It\u2019s the safety to be dynamic, to change, and to dream. But to be safe, we have to be whole.<\/p>\n

Like what you\u2019re reading on the More Than Two blog? Buy the book now<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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