Nuances of Sexual Consent

Sexual consent represents the willingness to engage in sexual behaviour with another person. This book presents a collection of research studies that sought to uncover intricacies related to how people experience, communicate, or perceive such willingness. Is consent sexy? To what extent are descriptions of nonconsensual sex discomforting? Do past instances of nonconsensual sex affect how people experience consent in subsequent relationships? Can you be willing to have sex but not want to? When two people go home together after a date, does that mean they are consenting to have sex? What roles do gender or sexual orientation play regarding sexual consent? Does consent matter for interactions with sex robots? These questions and more are the focus of the studies described within. The many nuances underlying a person’s willingness to engage in sexual behaviour emphasise that the process of sexual consent must be ongoing and requires mutual respect between those involved.Nuances of Sexual Consent is a significant new contribution to sexuality studies and will be a great resource for researchers, instructors, and advanced students of Psychology, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, and Philosophy. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Psychology & Sexuality.

Malachi Willis is Research Associate in the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow, UK. He primarily researches the nuances of sexual consent, which he conceptualises as a person’s willingness to engage in a particular sexual behaviour with a particular person within a particular context.