In Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy and Naamah trilogies, it is explicitly stated, over and over, that any sexual or physical interaction without consent is heresy. Because all that Naamah did for Elua was done consensually, the courtesans of the Night Court and their patrons consider consent a holy part of their ideology. On their many travels, our heroes and heroines struggle with how cultural norms differ from the Precept of Elua that d’Angelines hold sacrosanct. This important theme is one of the major reasons these trilogies remain powerfully relevant today and will remain so for decades to come.
What is consent culture? As a rebuttal to rape culture, consent culture is the normalization of consent and communication. We support the consent culture of Terre d’Ange and the international movement to normalize consent and communication in our present world.
We believe rape and sexual assault victims/survivors should be believed and supported, not blamed or ignored. We believe every single person has the right to their bodily autonomy, which includes the right to not be hugged, tickled, or touched in any way without enthusiastic consent. We believe consent is not merely the absence of “no.” We believe that consent is unambiguous and free of coercion. We believe in vigorous self-education on unlearning rape culture and creating consent culture. We believe in consent advocacy.
There are thousands of website, blogs, podcasts and books regarding consent culture. Here are a few jump starters for continued education:
https://www.creatingconsentculture.com/
http://veganwarriorprincessesattack.com/?s=consent
Ask: Building Consent Culture, edited by Kitty Stryker
We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out, by Annie E. Clark and Andrea L. Pino
Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture-and What We Can Do about It, by Kate Harding
Exit, Pursued by a Bear, by E.K. Johnston
And, of course, Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy and Naamah trilogies.