Slate.com
8.11.15 | Amanda Marcotte
Sexting Is a Form of Affirmative Consent, and Americans Love It
In recent years there's been a drumbeat of sensationalist stories about the supposed dangers of sexting, mostly because people who use new tech for sexual gratification are a reliable impetus for moral panics. But two researchers at Drexel University are pushing back. A paper presented last weekend at the American Psychological Association's annual convention suggests not only that most adults engage in sexting, but that it can actually improve their relationships.
In their sample survey of 870 Americans ages 18–82, Emily Stasko and Pamela Geller found that nearly 9 in 10 subjects had sexted before, and 82 percent had done it in the past year. Overall, they found a "robust relationship between sexting and sexual satisfaction." For people who weren't in "very committed" relationships, sexting also had a relationship satisfaction bump. For people who were already in committed relationships, there was no bump, but no adverse effects, either.
These results don't just tell us about how normal and everyday sexting is. They also tell us a lot about the debate over affirmative consent.
