Fumbling towards better consent
Feb. 24th, 2014 08:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickSo the other day I was talking about Derek’s shitty, coercive behavior in the hospital room with Erica in Teen Wolf S2x03. Apparently I’m not done talking about it, so we’re gonna do that some more.
Derek needs Erica to say yes to being bitten. He’s got legit plusses on offer – fixes epilepsy, apparently makes her far more able to dress sexily and do makeup, hot oil treatment for her frizzy and unsexy hair, etc. Oh, and yeah, stuff like strength, power, speed, enhanced senses and other crap .
The things that Derek has on offer is is stuff that Erica can legitimately want. It’s stuff that has a definite plus side (and some significant downsides as well). There’s no particular need for Derek to slide into shitty coercive efforts to get consent in order to get her to say yes.
And yet, said elements were applied. In large part that’s because this is a television show and not a polemic on proper consent. (I’m doing the polemic for all ya’ll, while you wait. :) Coercive-sexy (The fact that coercive-sexy fucking exists at all has oh so many problems of its own but it’s not the topic of the day, here. I can only solve one problem at a time.) works well in the show on two fronts. First off, this is television aimed at teen-tween women who are themselves probably engaging with issues of consent. It’s a story element that the intended audience connects with because it is oh-so-germane to their condition, even if they aren’t bringing as much overt awareness of it to the table as I am. (I find Derek’s predatory hotness both problematic [it’s laden with power issues and coercion] and darling [awww, male predators are so cute when they’re young!]. Ah, well.) Second, Derek is a predator. Heck, he’s not just a predator, he’s the alpha at the time of this episode. He could just take what the hell he wants (werewolfing=sex, folks. Not exactly a news flash.) but coerced, power-leveraged consent, while still predatory, is less-obviously-rapey than straight-up taking so it’s a better choice for the show if the creative staff is intending Derek to be a reasonably-sympathetic character. 'Cause, y'know, he did ask. And Erica did say yes. (Asking for and getting a “yes” is not sufficient for “good consent”. Good consent requires everybody to play by the spirit of the law, not the letter.)
(Why am I picking on a fluffy genre television show? I’m not picking on it, I’m engaging with the text. That’s what people do with texts. They engage. If I did this with Moby Dick, there’d be a master’s degree in it for me. It’d be all educational and srs bizness and shit. But I’m twinking around with pop culture and tossing it into the bottomless void of the internets, liberally sprinkled with profanity and snarky asides, so it’s not really real.)
If Derek had been interested in getting to a BETTER “yes”, how might he have done it? (I’m not entirely certain a “good” consent is even possible, here. The power balance between Derek and Erica is way out of whack, beyond my ability to fix it within the bounds of the story.) But he could certainly be doing a better job than he did. :)
Derek’s power in this scene derives from the following sources: hotness, age, gender, experience, physical power, good health, height. He’s got all the cards, Erica doesn’t have very many. For him to do a better job with the scene as written, some of the blocking has to change and it can’t all take place with the unities of time place and action that we might expect of greek tragedy, in the way that I assume the not-shown parts of bitey goodness took place offscreen in the hospital that same day. (Extra credit for the reader: Explain how the seduction-into-werewolfing-of-Erica can be considered a tragic event. Hint: Consider the full force and authority of the patriarchy in modern society when composing your answer.)
Fumbling towards better consent!
Derek should not have abducted Erica to the morgue while she was out of it. She should not be waking up in a strange place with someone looming over her. Derek should enter her proper hospital room, while she’s fully conscious. She should be under the covers, not on top of them with her nekkid feet and legs exposed. She should be sitting up with the bed propped up and doing something (reading, working on school crap, something) so that Derek’s intrusion is obviously taking her away from her own things and is visibly recognized as such.
Derek should be all “Is this a good time?” at the threshold. He should wait for the answer before entering, though he can Winning Smile if he wants. He should introduce himself, with eye contact and an offered handshake. He should take off his coat and sit his ass down in a visitor’s chair (most hospital rooms have a couple of chairs, usually shoved into corners at the foot of the bed side of the room), far enough away that he isn’t able to touch her. He can flop the coat over the arm of the chair or put it on the windowsill, doesn’t matter. With him in the chair, his head should be a couple of inches lower than his, so that she’s clearly got the height advantage on him. He’s allowed to prop one foot on the other knee and kind of slouch down in that crotch-forward way that dudes do. I’ll give him that.
And then he can get to the “why I am here” thing. He can explain that he has had his eye on her for a while, that she’s special, that he’s picked her on purpose because she has qualities (list some) that will make her an exceptional pack member. Benefits of same include (blah blah blah in which benefits are enumerated) but there are some downsides. He’s allowed to gloss over the downsides a bit, because this is a sales pitch, but he can’t ignore them entirely.
Erica can be all “you are out of your mind” for some of this and that’s fine. Derek will then smile winningly (look, the man’s got an arsenal, there. might as well let him use it) and allow as how this is a lot to take in at one time (phrasing is not accidental, dude can also drape one hand over his thigh, kinda high up) and that he’ll totally understand if she wants to take some time to think about it, seeing as how it’s a lot to take in at once life-changing event and a big decision and all that. But, y'know, he would love to have her (he can just stop there a bit, looking intently, lips slightly parted, then continue on) as part of the team, and here’s his card if she wants to talk to him some more after she’s had some time to think about it.
And then he leaves.
Why is this better? Derek is still hot and a dude and older and more powerful and healthy and so forth… but he is not pushing his agenda. He’s trying to level the playing field, given the inherent inequalities, and he’s offering his agenda to Erica. He’s deliberately leaving a lot of tools in the toolbox (and honestly, that’s a massive demonstration of power and confidence kind of like fishermen get all hepped up about landing pike on 7 lb. test line). He’s totally accepting her no, before it is even offered, giving her space to make a decision without feeling pressured, and putting the ball for next-contact totally in her court. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s better than what we got.
Derek needs Erica to say yes to being bitten. He’s got legit plusses on offer – fixes epilepsy, apparently makes her far more able to dress sexily and do makeup, hot oil treatment for her frizzy and unsexy hair, etc. Oh, and yeah, stuff like strength, power, speed, enhanced senses and other crap .
The things that Derek has on offer is is stuff that Erica can legitimately want. It’s stuff that has a definite plus side (and some significant downsides as well). There’s no particular need for Derek to slide into shitty coercive efforts to get consent in order to get her to say yes.
And yet, said elements were applied. In large part that’s because this is a television show and not a polemic on proper consent. (I’m doing the polemic for all ya’ll, while you wait. :) Coercive-sexy (The fact that coercive-sexy fucking exists at all has oh so many problems of its own but it’s not the topic of the day, here. I can only solve one problem at a time.) works well in the show on two fronts. First off, this is television aimed at teen-tween women who are themselves probably engaging with issues of consent. It’s a story element that the intended audience connects with because it is oh-so-germane to their condition, even if they aren’t bringing as much overt awareness of it to the table as I am. (I find Derek’s predatory hotness both problematic [it’s laden with power issues and coercion] and darling [awww, male predators are so cute when they’re young!]. Ah, well.) Second, Derek is a predator. Heck, he’s not just a predator, he’s the alpha at the time of this episode. He could just take what the hell he wants (werewolfing=sex, folks. Not exactly a news flash.) but coerced, power-leveraged consent, while still predatory, is less-obviously-rapey than straight-up taking so it’s a better choice for the show if the creative staff is intending Derek to be a reasonably-sympathetic character. 'Cause, y'know, he did ask. And Erica did say yes. (Asking for and getting a “yes” is not sufficient for “good consent”. Good consent requires everybody to play by the spirit of the law, not the letter.)
(Why am I picking on a fluffy genre television show? I’m not picking on it, I’m engaging with the text. That’s what people do with texts. They engage. If I did this with Moby Dick, there’d be a master’s degree in it for me. It’d be all educational and srs bizness and shit. But I’m twinking around with pop culture and tossing it into the bottomless void of the internets, liberally sprinkled with profanity and snarky asides, so it’s not really real.)
If Derek had been interested in getting to a BETTER “yes”, how might he have done it? (I’m not entirely certain a “good” consent is even possible, here. The power balance between Derek and Erica is way out of whack, beyond my ability to fix it within the bounds of the story.) But he could certainly be doing a better job than he did. :)
Derek’s power in this scene derives from the following sources: hotness, age, gender, experience, physical power, good health, height. He’s got all the cards, Erica doesn’t have very many. For him to do a better job with the scene as written, some of the blocking has to change and it can’t all take place with the unities of time place and action that we might expect of greek tragedy, in the way that I assume the not-shown parts of bitey goodness took place offscreen in the hospital that same day. (Extra credit for the reader: Explain how the seduction-into-werewolfing-of-Erica can be considered a tragic event. Hint: Consider the full force and authority of the patriarchy in modern society when composing your answer.)
Fumbling towards better consent!
Derek should not have abducted Erica to the morgue while she was out of it. She should not be waking up in a strange place with someone looming over her. Derek should enter her proper hospital room, while she’s fully conscious. She should be under the covers, not on top of them with her nekkid feet and legs exposed. She should be sitting up with the bed propped up and doing something (reading, working on school crap, something) so that Derek’s intrusion is obviously taking her away from her own things and is visibly recognized as such.
Derek should be all “Is this a good time?” at the threshold. He should wait for the answer before entering, though he can Winning Smile if he wants. He should introduce himself, with eye contact and an offered handshake. He should take off his coat and sit his ass down in a visitor’s chair (most hospital rooms have a couple of chairs, usually shoved into corners at the foot of the bed side of the room), far enough away that he isn’t able to touch her. He can flop the coat over the arm of the chair or put it on the windowsill, doesn’t matter. With him in the chair, his head should be a couple of inches lower than his, so that she’s clearly got the height advantage on him. He’s allowed to prop one foot on the other knee and kind of slouch down in that crotch-forward way that dudes do. I’ll give him that.
And then he can get to the “why I am here” thing. He can explain that he has had his eye on her for a while, that she’s special, that he’s picked her on purpose because she has qualities (list some) that will make her an exceptional pack member. Benefits of same include (blah blah blah in which benefits are enumerated) but there are some downsides. He’s allowed to gloss over the downsides a bit, because this is a sales pitch, but he can’t ignore them entirely.
Erica can be all “you are out of your mind” for some of this and that’s fine. Derek will then smile winningly (look, the man’s got an arsenal, there. might as well let him use it) and allow as how this is a lot to take in at one time (phrasing is not accidental, dude can also drape one hand over his thigh, kinda high up) and that he’ll totally understand if she wants to take some time to think about it, seeing as how it’s a lot to take in at once life-changing event and a big decision and all that. But, y'know, he would love to have her (he can just stop there a bit, looking intently, lips slightly parted, then continue on) as part of the team, and here’s his card if she wants to talk to him some more after she’s had some time to think about it.
And then he leaves.
Why is this better? Derek is still hot and a dude and older and more powerful and healthy and so forth… but he is not pushing his agenda. He’s trying to level the playing field, given the inherent inequalities, and he’s offering his agenda to Erica. He’s deliberately leaving a lot of tools in the toolbox (and honestly, that’s a massive demonstration of power and confidence kind of like fishermen get all hepped up about landing pike on 7 lb. test line). He’s totally accepting her no, before it is even offered, giving her space to make a decision without feeling pressured, and putting the ball for next-contact totally in her court. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s better than what we got.
