• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • The State Of R&B
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Culture

The Consent Convo: Consent In The Age Of Trump

Every Thursday in the month of November, Esther Armah and #theCONSENTconvo, in collaboration with ESSENCE, will explore the complexities of consent in society through different lens, experiences and stories in an effort to normalize discussions about the term and dismantle rape culture. Join the conversation using the hashtag, #theCONSENTconvo
The Consent Convo: Consent in the age of TRUMP
Photographer: Andrey Popov
By Esther Armah · Updated October 26, 2020

What does consent mean in this moment?

Does it hold meaning? Does it matter when white America hands absolute political power to a man who has demonstrated he has no idea what consent is at the age of 59? And it is not simply that he doesn’t know, but that his election victory means millions of people don’t seem to care. 

Not about this. What does that mean for us?

Consent in the age of Trump is a bitch. White Women voted in record numbers for Trump — 53 percent according to exit polls. That vote reveals white women love their white man more than they do themselves, their future, their right to choose, their sexual health or their freedom. 

In 2016, that is some serious shit.

It is that action that makes a public conversation on consent even more urgent. And one that engages women and men. Trump’s win ignited the alpha, don’t give a fuck mentality in millions of men, it told sexually predatory men their behavior will not be sanctioned but might in fact be rewarded.

We need to talk differently about CONSENT.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.

Right now, our consent conversations happen in the context of a high profile celebrity facing sexual assault allegations – think Derek Rose or Nate Parker or Bill Cosby or Donald Trump. Those headlines and the details shape public discourse as writers and reporters thrash out the emerging details of the story. They can be heated, accusatory. Important think pieces that contextualize and critically analyze also emerge.  That lens creates constant reactionary space that can be unloving. Sexual assault survivors may be triggered by the stories. Social media provides connection and can equally be condemning and shaming. Discussions from this space rarely prompt us to find more introspective ways to talk about what is clearly an issue that needs our public attention and one that might benefit from taking a different approach.

Let’s change the narrative.

Let’s talk out loud and publicly about consent in safe, public space. That is exactly what we’re doing with #theCONSENTconvo. It’s a public conversation campaign on consent in safe open space. It’s happening in partnership with ESSENCE and Emotional Justice. It features women and men from their 20s to their 50s. Contributors include a school principal, a sex educator, a minister, the formerly incarcerated and educator activists.

In this first consent convo for November, we talk consent in the context of first sexual encounters; Jesus, Trump, black history, Black mamas, trust and mistrust, secrecy, silence, shame, pleasure and sexual assault survival. Monica Dennis, co-founder of Spirit of a Woman Leadership Development Institute and Liz S. Alexander, founder of She Dreams of Freedom join us.

They share their personal journeys on consent.

“I grew up knowing that my NO had power,” explains Liz. “My mother embodied that. I can recall very young – maybe at 5 – I knew my body was my own, that no-one had the right to use my body without my permission.”

Liz explained her mother was a sexual assault survivor. Her mother’s experience informed her treatment of her girl child; that she would have her body treated with respect. Liz also talks about the Black Church’s role in shaping her attitude, as does Monica.

“I had messages communicated to me where I was told there was never a need to have a conversation about consent, because you were not supposed to be having sex anyway. You should not be aware of your body, you should not be aware of the autonomy and agency that a woman deserves. Why would consent be part of conversation if sex is never something you should be on your mind?”

Monica reflects back on her teenage self and her journey in consent.

“…I reflect back on my 17 and 18 year old self and I was exploring what it meant to be a sexual being and doing that in ways where I was being questioned. As I got older, when I said yes – especially as I got older – it was about pleasure”

LISTEN TO #theCONSENTconvo: a public conversation campaign on consent via THE SPIN

courtesy of Esther Armah

Host: Esther Armah | Contributors: Monica Dennis & Liz S. Alexander

Follow Esther Armah on Twitter: @estherarmah

Follow The Spin @TheSpinEA

 

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now