Commenter theasdgamer asked how Yes Means Yes is intended to grease the skids of hookup culture for women. This is a crucial question, because conservatives are tempted to assume the law will greatly constrict the hookup culture, as Heather Mac Donald of The Weekly Standard argues (H/T Martel):
Sexual liberation is having a nervous breakdown on college campuses. Conservatives should be cheering on its collapse; instead they sometimes sound as if they want to administer the victim smelling salts…
The ultimate result of the feminists’ crusade may be the same as if they were explicitly calling for a return to sexual modesty: a sharp decrease in casual, drunken sex. There is no downside to this development.
But this fantasy denies what the promoters of the law are saying outright. The intent of the law is to make women feel freer to engage in the hookup culture, as Ezra Klein explains:
The Yes Means Yes law could also be called the You Better Be Pretty Damn Sure law…
A version of the You Better Be Pretty Damn Sure law is already in effect at college campuses. It just sits as an impossible burden on women, who need to Be Pretty Damn Sure that the guy who was so nice to them at the party isn’t going to turn into a rapist if they let him into their dorm room — and that’s not something anyone can be sure about.
As the proponents of the law are very openly explaining, the point is to make it feel safe for women to take strange men back to their dorm rooms, or to travel to unknown cities and sleep in strange men’s beds. This is what feminists have in mind, and this is what such a law will promote.
It is worth reiterating that the law will only make these foolish choices seem safe. It won’t actually make doing these things safe. Just like “Teach men not to rape” won’t reduce rape, giving women comfort in making risky choices won’t actually make those choices safe.
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