sexual consent Flashcards
what undermines consent?
coercion and deception
- dougherty claims that any lie has the power to undermine consent
dougherty’s main argument
1) having sex with someone without their morally valid consent is seriously morally wrong
2) deceiving someone into sex is having sex without morally valid consent
c) deceiving someone into sex is seriously morally wrong
morally valid consent
consent is freely given
deal breakers
features of the sexual encounter that goes against the victim’s will
- e.g. “i graduated from harvard,” “i’m single”
chihuahua and great dane example
- aisha tricks someone into bringing a chihuahua to their apartment by saying it’s a great dane
- the person agreed to let a dog in, but not specifically that dog, so their consent is invalidated
chloe and victoria
- victoria only want to have sex with someone who loves nature
- chloe lies and says she loves nature
- they spend the night together
- dougherty claims that victoria didn’t validly consent to sex with chloe
objection 1
and dougherty’s response
can’t we say that some lies undermine consent but not all lies?
- dougherty says that if some lies undermine consent, they all do
objection 2
and dougherty’s response
what if i couldn’t have reasonably known that something was a deal breaker to my sexual partner?
- dougherty says ignorance isn’t an issue for his view; ignorance implies non-culpability for undermining someone’s consent
problem case for conly’s argument
commonwealth v. mlinarich
- she had sex with her foster parent out of fear of being taken back
- there was no threat of force though
- ruled that they weren’t guilty of rape
- but it was nonconsensual
problems to what rape is
consent to sex doesn’t always require mutual sexual desire
- e.g. lesbian couple wants to have kids
sexual consent ≠ sexual desire
- e.g. someone can want sex but won’t for religious reasons
lack of viable choice
when X creates a situation where Y is forced to have sex and X’s threat takes away Y’s viable alternatives
harm
coercion undermines consent when burdens attached to not having sex involve significant physical and/or emotional harms
intent
X is aware Y is only having sex with them because of their threat
4 criteria acts of coercion to count as consent-undermining
conly
- lack of viable choice
- harm
- intent
- illegitimacy
illegitimacy
the coercive act must be wrong or unfair, as it forces someone into a decision, making their consent invalid
- e.g. employer/employee: football and sex
- employer comes up to employee and says “i’m going to fire if you keep watching football/having sex”
conly says these cases are different despite having similar structure because there are some domains in which it’s legitimate to negotiate particular things
weakness of will
conflict between immediate desire and what you want all-things-considered
seduction
according to conly
weakness of will induced by someone else
- e.g. bread example
forms of seduction
type 1 and type 2
type 1 seduction
when seducer induces weakness of will to cave to a simple desire to have sex
- e.g. bread example
type 2 seduction
seducer induces weakness of will to cave a desire that isn’t sexual in nature
desire to avoid negative sanctions imposed by seducer
can seduction be rape/undermine consent?
according to conly
no, but it’s still morally wrong because it degrades the victim’s self-autonomy
persuasion
exchanging reasons; giving them and responding to them
- providing new and correct info
when is a sexual phenomenon wrong?
according to conly
- persuasion is morally permissible
- seduction is morally wrong because it undermines rationality
- coercion happens when rationality is weakened, forcing a victim to choose the next best option
