Ellen’s Reviews > Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know > Status Update

“Consent is something two parties negotiate on the assumption that each side in the negotiation is who they say they are, but how can you determine consent when at the moment of negotiation both parties are so far from their true selves”. This and other comments throughout the chapter really make it seem like he just thinks women are lying to men saying they want sex when they don’t.

If Gladwell is so concerned about ‘victims of default to truth’ then why is he not also damming the legal system that makes everything need to be black and white to carry a case? Why is he insinuating that victims are lying more than he is talking about restorative justice for those who believed abusers? Why is he not talking about our social biases that make us have more trust to certain groups of people?

So far, absolutely disgusting victim blaming and a complete lack of understanding around the affects of childhood sexual abuse.