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A review by stevendedalus
Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus by Vanessa Grigoriadis
5.0
This book was name-checked by one of my favourite writers, Jia Tolentino, as a great in-depth look and it doesn't disappoint. It's an unflinching look at the complexity around sexual assault that doesn't try to demonize but also doesn't fall into the "truth is in the middle" trap.
Grigoriadis is not shy about injecting herself into the reporting since the topic can be so personal and because so many of the themes revolve around the evolution of consent and the clash between generations.
Her thesis boils down to: the kids are doing good, sometimes they may go too far for me, but all in all things are moving in a good direction and we should be having these conversations. It's an eminently reasonable point and she does a good job of contextualizing the movement instead of splashing clickbait headlines about crazy leftist radicals.
Campuses aren't isolated liberal enclaves of meaningless rhetoric, they're places that can reflect and foster new ideas that permeate the culture, especially as the #metoo movement post-publication has brought consent discussions even more to the mainstream.
Grigoriadis shows both the weirdness of college life (Greek life where only male frats can have parties forcing sororities to come to them) and their microcosm of normal life (in-network stranger assault).
She gives voice to men who have been accused of assault (and their almost-to-a-one misogynist mothers) some of whom are believable but is always careful to contextualize that unreported assaults are vastly more common than false or misguided accusations.
What you're left with is a portrait of an argument in flux, debate roiling, all rough edges and grey zones. But you also feel the urgency of the argument, the passion of the advocates and, most importantly, a hopefulness that as the younger generations hash this out, while it may seem confusing at first, the world will be a better, and more consensual, place for it.
Grigoriadis is not shy about injecting herself into the reporting since the topic can be so personal and because so many of the themes revolve around the evolution of consent and the clash between generations.
Her thesis boils down to: the kids are doing good, sometimes they may go too far for me, but all in all things are moving in a good direction and we should be having these conversations. It's an eminently reasonable point and she does a good job of contextualizing the movement instead of splashing clickbait headlines about crazy leftist radicals.
Campuses aren't isolated liberal enclaves of meaningless rhetoric, they're places that can reflect and foster new ideas that permeate the culture, especially as the #metoo movement post-publication has brought consent discussions even more to the mainstream.
Grigoriadis shows both the weirdness of college life (Greek life where only male frats can have parties forcing sororities to come to them) and their microcosm of normal life (in-network stranger assault).
She gives voice to men who have been accused of assault (and their almost-to-a-one misogynist mothers) some of whom are believable but is always careful to contextualize that unreported assaults are vastly more common than false or misguided accusations.
What you're left with is a portrait of an argument in flux, debate roiling, all rough edges and grey zones. But you also feel the urgency of the argument, the passion of the advocates and, most importantly, a hopefulness that as the younger generations hash this out, while it may seem confusing at first, the world will be a better, and more consensual, place for it.