TY - JOUR
T1 - Yes means yes and no means no, but both these mantras need to go
T2 - communication myths in consent education and anti-rape activism*
AU - Harris, Kate Lockwood
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 National Communication Association.
PY - 2018/3/4
Y1 - 2018/3/4
N2 - For decades, feminists have intervened in a sexually violent culture. Many public health professionals, educators, and activists who design these interventions have called for complex conceptualizations of communication, yet communication studies scholars have not written extensively on consent. Moreover, researchers outside the field rarely rely on insights from the discipline. Accordingly, I offer a critical review of consent activism and research, and I highlight disciplinary assumptions that could enhance existing knowledge. I argue that many feminist academic/activist interventions use false ideas about communication, what I call communication myths: discourse merely reflects reality, and local discourse is disconnected from larger social Discourse. I show how these communication myths resonate with rape-supportive arguments. By suggesting communication should be unambiguous during consent, anti-violence educators/activists lower the standard for communicative competence, disconnect it from historical-cultural context, and miss opportunities to politicize consent. I argue feminists can challenge communication myths to build on existing interventions while more fully dismantling rape culture.
AB - For decades, feminists have intervened in a sexually violent culture. Many public health professionals, educators, and activists who design these interventions have called for complex conceptualizations of communication, yet communication studies scholars have not written extensively on consent. Moreover, researchers outside the field rarely rely on insights from the discipline. Accordingly, I offer a critical review of consent activism and research, and I highlight disciplinary assumptions that could enhance existing knowledge. I argue that many feminist academic/activist interventions use false ideas about communication, what I call communication myths: discourse merely reflects reality, and local discourse is disconnected from larger social Discourse. I show how these communication myths resonate with rape-supportive arguments. By suggesting communication should be unambiguous during consent, anti-violence educators/activists lower the standard for communicative competence, disconnect it from historical-cultural context, and miss opportunities to politicize consent. I argue feminists can challenge communication myths to build on existing interventions while more fully dismantling rape culture.
KW - Activism
KW - communication myths
KW - consent
KW - discourse
KW - education
KW - feminist communication
KW - rape culture
KW - rape myths
KW - sexual violence
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U2 - 10.1080/00909882.2018.1435900
DO - 10.1080/00909882.2018.1435900
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85041919493
SN - 0090-9882
VL - 46
SP - 155
EP - 178
JO - Journal of Applied Communication Research
JF - Journal of Applied Communication Research
IS - 2
ER -