Consensual Violence: Sex, Sports, and the Politics of Injury

by Jill D. Weinberg

In this novel approach to understanding consent, Jill D. Weinberg presents two case studies of activities in which participants engage in violent competitive mixed martial arts (MMA) and sexual sadism and masochism (BDSM). Participants in both cases assent to injury and thereby engage in a form of social decriminalization, using the language of consent to render their actions legally and socially tolerable. Yet, these activities are treated differently under criminal battery sports, including MMA, are generally absolved from the charge of criminal battery, whereas BDSM often represents a violation of criminal battery law. Using interviews and ethnographic observation, Weinberg argues that where law authorizes a person’s consent to an activity, as in MMA, consent is not meaningfully constructed or regulated by the participants themselves. In contrast, where law prohibits a person’s consent to an activity, as in BDSM, participants actively construct and regulate consent. A synthesis of criminal law and ethnography, Consensual Violence is a fascinating account of how consent is framed among participants engaged in violent acts and lays the groundwork for a sociological understanding of the process of decriminalization.

Genres: BDSM

158 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 31, 2016

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating look at a controversial subject- how far does consent extend and are there activities and behaviors that we are unable to consent to? By examining two cases-studies (BDSM and Mixed Martial Arts) Weinberg argues that consent, traditionally configured, acts as ‘moral magic’ that transforms what would usually be theft into borrowing, rape into ‘sex’ and sex that involves violence, power hierarchies and role playing, is transformed into ‘kink’.

However, she acknowledges that “Not all consent is created equal and not all consent is viewed equally”, especially when it comes to activities that do not have a wide social acceptance and that groups and individuals enacting norms or rules in response to validation or vitiation of consent by the State through the power of law.

This book helps readers to change the way we understand consent that can then assist us to reconceptualize other areas where social groups and individuals existing and acting in the shadow of the law can transform the meaning and signification of consent which therefore provides readers with a more nuanced understanding of intimate human relations and the relationship of individuals to the State.

While this book has been designed more for those with an academic interest in sociology and law, the style of writing is such that it remains accessible to most readers interested in the topic.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jill D. Weinberg is Assistant Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University. This is a great book for anyone interested in how social power takes shape and ushers in decriminalization of formerly deviant behaviors. It is a clear example of how power resides, not solely with presidential administrations, but how everyday people have been vested with the power to promote change and specifically how formerly deviant subcultures and outside groups have structured consent to claim power of legitimacy over the law and dissolve social discord. For this reason, this book makes an excellent choice for anyone interested in reading how consensual violence became reimagined.

[Erica Guzzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad someone wrote this book. It needed to be done and it was done very, very well.

[Zo]

Interestingggg

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

clever, counter-intuitive, sometimes infuriating