Skip to main content

You make this possible. Support our independent, nonprofit newsroom today.

Give Now

How have the rules changed around sex and consent?

caption: Claire Dederer and Vanessa Grigoriadis at University Lutheran Church
Enlarge Icon
Claire Dederer and Vanessa Grigoriadis at University Lutheran Church
KUOW Photo/Sonya Harris

This talk by and discussion with author Vanessa Grigoriadis explores the complicated politics of modern sexuality. It pushes the conversation toward the establishment of healthier, more informed attitudes about sex and consent in an often confusing social landscape.

Social norms concerning sex are incubated on college campuses. The current climate points toward sexual revolution.

So what happens when "hook up" culture meets the reality of sexual assault? In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that nearly one in five women and one in 71 men reported experiencing rape at some time in their lives. More than one in three women were first raped between ages 18 and 24.

When it comes to sexual freedom, rights and responsibilities, how have the rules changed, and who makes them? Is it college kids, school administrators or politicians? Is more "boys shaming boys’" what we need? Are young women brought up “to derive their worth by virtue of how appealing they are to men?”

Vanessa Grigoriadis is a contributing editor at The New York Times magazine and Vanity Fair and the author of “Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus.” She spoke with Seattle author Claire Dederer (“Love and Trouble”) at a Town Hall Seattle event at University Lutheran Church on September 13. Sonya Harris recorded the talk.

Please note: This recording contains unedited language of an adult nature.

Listen to the full version below:

Why you can trust KUOW