Would You Do It To A Pet? …and Other Ways to Discuss Deviance & Consent

Here’s a reposted blog from my personal website, jeanajorgensen.com. Enjoy!

There’s a journalistic account going around about a young man who identifies as a pedophile in that he’s attracted to children, but he has never acted on that attraction. In fact, he’s actively seeking help in order to keep from acting on it. Pedophilia is one the most taboo and reviled sexuality topics in our society, and I like how the interview humanizes the man. It’s worth a listen if you have the time (it’s around 30 minutes long).

The story got me thinking about how we tend to talk about sexual deviancy. The more taboo a topic is, the more likely the discussion of it is to be framed in terms of morality or wrongness. In other words, stigma has an incredibly polarizing effect on discourse.

But you know what? Pretty much any sexual act has the potential to be just as “deviant” as the most stigmatized and taboo acts out there. This is because every sex act that involves more than one person hinges on consent, and even the most innocent-seeming act can become a violation if consent is lacking.

This is where the “would you do it to/with a pet?” question comes in. Think of something you might do to, say, a cat or dog as a friendly gesture:

  • Hug
  • Pet
  • Feed
  • Walk or play with

You don’t have to ask your cat or dog whether you can interact with it in a low-key, friendly way, in a manner that presumes some familiarity but does not transgress the animal’s bodily boundaries or cause it pain. Similarly, you usually don’t have to ask a friend consent before hugging her, or offering him food, or shaking zir hand.

Then think of some other activities, which you would NOT do to your pet. These could involve forcibly penetrating it, or beating it. Why would those actions be wrong? Because your pet cannot consent to sex with a human, nor to receiving pain. Animals think differently than humans and we haven’t figured out how to bridge a lot of those gaps just yet. Humans, on the other hand, are capable of communicating with one another about marvelously complex things, including giving and receiving physical pain in the pursuit of pleasure as with kink/BDSM, or choosing to enter into sex work.

My point here is that if it’s not an act that you would feel okay doing to an alive-and-feeling being that is incapable of communicating consent — it is potentially a “deviant” act. Being kissed without consent can be an invasive, horrible experience. Having sex without consent – that’s called rape.  Whether it’s the most vanilla thing in that world or as taboo as it gets, any partnered sexual activity has the potential to be traumatic if its occurs without consent.

Obviously the pet analogy falls apart at some point. Some people enjoy sloppy wet dog kisses, and the dogs seem to enjoy them right back. The activity of wrestling with one’s pet may cross into rough play, rougher than you’d do with a non-consenting human. I just wanted to come up with a metaphor that would resonate with people, that would make you think about the activities which require explicit consent and the activities that do not.

The flip side is that if any act, no matter how innocent or well-intended, can become monstrous when it occurs without consent, then any deviant/taboo/bizarre act can be seen as okay if consent is granted. Or at least, I’ll see it that way, and encourage others to have an open enough mind to do so.

Once again: if you’re a consenting adult, I support you doing anything. Consent should always be communicated, negotiated, and re-negotiated, so the more we read and talk and write about it, the better!

8 thoughts on “Would You Do It To A Pet? …and Other Ways to Discuss Deviance & Consent

  1. Generally speaking, I like your metaphor and your open support of whatever kink may occur between two consenting adults. Although as a counselor and therapist, I wonder about those who have trouble giving true consent. Perhaps there are some outside-of-the-box sexual activities that need high levels of discretion and communication? Making sure the other party is able to give unambiguous, informed consent?

    1. Those are excellent points, Kathy. It seems quite likely that some activities require an extra level of ensuring that consent is not only present but hyper-present. I wonder what those kinds of consent-informed strategies would look like…?

  2. Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your website?
    My blog is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my users would definitely
    benefit from some of the information you provide here. Please let
    me know if this ok with you. Many thanks!

  3. Howdy! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out aand tell you
    I genuinely enjoy reading through your articles. Can youu
    recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same subjects?
    Thanks for your time!

Leave a Reply to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp0HPXP9yIc Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *