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Here’s How a Former NFL Linebacker Defines Sexual Consent
More than just “no” means no.
Normally, I’m against men defining anything for women as it feeds the sexist notion that men know what’s best for everyone. Also, because unless you’re a woman, you can’t truly understand what it’s like to live in a society and culture that regards you as an object of desire above all things.
Women are sick of being told how to live. We’re also tired of bearing accountability for our sexual assaults. However, former NFL Linebacker DeAndre Levy is a man who seems to get it with his recent description of consent from women. He does this while also acknowledging the toxic idea of masculinity from which such pseudo gray areas form.
Levy opens his essay for The Player’s Tribune, titled “Man Up” with this:
Man up!
You pussy!
Grow a pair!
These are insults that are so commonplace that we have all encountered them at some point, be it on a playing field, in a locker room or in any other situation where being “strong” and “tough” is paramount. They’re all based on the generally accepted premise that the worst thing you can do/say to a man is to question his masculinity.
It wasn’t until recently, however, that I really considered…
