Subtlety is Out

“Under Yale’s sexual misconduct policy. . .sexual assault includes any contact without ‘positive, unambiguous, and voluntary consent’. According to Yale, consent must be ‘ongoing’ at each stage of an encounter but ‘cannot be inferred from the absence of a ‘no’.”

Jennifer Braceras, “College Sex Meets the Star Chamber,” Wall Street Journal, Oct. 23, 2016

 

BOT SEX

I hear that there’s a law (A law no less!)

that “yes” means “yes.” Oh, no. It’s not

for politicians. It’s designed

for college guys with sex in mind.

Like children playing Mother, May I.

You remember, “Mother, may I take

two baby steps?” “One giant step?”

Anyhow, according to this law,

each sexual step must be preceded by

a clear request and answered, “Yes.”

He asks, “Is it okay to . . .” “What? she wonders,

He does, too. His brain is tied in knots.

They didn’t start this with a list of wants.

Life is cloudy; clarity’s for bots.

From the just-released Did You See This? Poems to Provoke the Politically Correct by Herb Knapp. To see more poems from this book, go to girandolebooks.com.

And yes, in New York state, “affirmative consent ” has actually been codified into law.