Consent: What It Really Means in Sex, History, and Power

When we talk about consent, the voluntary, informed, and ongoing agreement to engage in sexual activity. Also known as sexual autonomy, it's not just a legal box to check—it's the core of dignity in intimacy. For centuries, consent didn’t exist as a concept for women, queer people, or the marginalized. In medieval times, marriage was a property transfer. In Victorian era, women were legally considered the property of their husbands. Even today, in many places, proving consent means fighting against assumptions, silence, and outdated laws.

Consent isn’t just about saying "yes"—it’s about having the power to say "no" without fear. The gender roles, social expectations that define how men and women should behave sexually have long made consent one-sided. Women were taught to be passive; men were taught to pursue. That’s why Anne Koedt’s 1968 essay on the clitoral orgasm wasn’t just about anatomy—it was about reclaiming control. Same with the fight against sexual history, the documented patterns of how societies have regulated, silenced, or exploited sexual behavior. When police raided gay bars, when masturbation was called a disease, when lesbian relationships vanished from archives—consent was never even on the table.

Today, consent is still being rewritten. In IVF clinics, consent isn’t just about sex—it’s about bodily autonomy over hormones and procedures. In AI porn, consent becomes a legal gray zone when someone’s face is cloned without permission. In prostitution history, the line between choice and coercion still blurs under economic pressure. And in every post here, you’ll see how consent isn’t just a modern buzzword—it’s the quiet thread running through every story of power, shame, resistance, and liberation. What you’ll find below isn’t just history. It’s the real, messy, unflinching story of who got to say yes—and who was never allowed to say no.