Welcome to Sehmat blogs! Well, what is Sehmat?
…
Consent, you say? While the story behind our organization’s name is quite interesting, for our first blog I try to showcase our vision at Sehmat. Imagine a big container with all the voices around the subject of sexuality. A sense of community with no room for judgement. That is us. That is Sehmat.
With this vision, let’s see what the voices have to say about consent at Sehmat itself.
Imagine going to a fancy restaurant in CP in your pyjamas. For a date.
… Well, that happened with one of our friends at Sehmat (let’s call them Yellow). Yellow went thinking they’ll probably roam around, eat chaat, have some gup-shup, and come back. The usual.
But the other person (let’s call them Purple) had different, well quite extravagant, plans. They took Yellow to one of those fancy looking, top-roof restaurants, and met them with a rather hungry hug.
“Can I kiss you?” They asked while hugging. Before Yellow could say anything, Purple went in for a kiss.
…Is silence for a few moments yes?...
Tee-Tik. A reply popped up to Blue’s 'hello' on Discord. Blue replied soon to this guy, White, and the conversation took off. Minutes after, White started flirting with Blue. Blue liked White, so they didn’t really mind.
“Let’s Sext?” White asked, and Blue hesitated.
White asked again.
Then again.
Blue finally said yes, and they both sexted.
Next day, Blue texts White. White never replied back.
…How do you approach strangers you like online?...
New college, new friends! Red was excited about their college. Just like anyone, they followed the friends they made. Of them, Black stood out. Black was liking all of Red’s stories on Instagram. Black was always trying to talk to Red.
Soon, Red found Black had right swiped on every dating profile they have.
Red blocked Black from everywhere and avoided any contact and conversation with Black.
…What’d you do if you were Red?...
Red leans in to kiss with Mauve. Red didn’t verbally ask Mauve before doing so. Mauve leans in too.
…If you were Mauve and you didn’t want to kiss, would you have leaned in too? Just to not make other person feel awkward?...
Red and Mauve then hug, pause for a while and had a sexual experience. Neither Mauve nor Red verbally seeked consent.
…How do you interpret a pause? As a No? Or is pause just a pause?...
Do these stories remind you of anything you have experienced in your life? What are your thoughts on what consent looks like?
I’d leave you with that.
Shukriya,
Bhart.
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