Sex Under Pressure

Shanty Hernandez

                                                                                                            PHI 297

                                                                                                            Journal Entry #5

                                                Sex Under Pressure

In “Sex Under Pressure”, Scott Anderson discusses how gender roles play a part in being pressured into sex. Those who have a “higher power” find it easier to convince others into doing sexual acts because it is harder for them to say no. “Seducers often use plain and not-so-plain pressure to get the objects of their desires to acquiesce to sexual proposals. Further problems stem from the way background forces and injustices- systematic gender hierarchy, for instance- empower some seducers and weaken their targets” (Anderson). Anderson goes on to say that males are able to use their male dominance to get what they want. “In explaining why a woman submits to sex with a man, it will often suffice to say that he threatened her with violence if she refused. We rarely feel we need to press further and ask why she assumed that he was capable of violence, why she assumed the threat was in earnest, or why she assumed that if she denied him that he would have gone ahead, against his own interests, and executed his threat” (Anderson). It is harder for a woman to say “no” because woman know that men are capable of threats and harming if they do not get exactly what they want.  Just because women consent does not necessarily mean that they want to have sex, sometimes it means that they are afraid of the outcome if they say otherwise. I completely agree with Anderson because sometimes it is hard to say no when being pressured, people do not know what can happen after they say “no”.

Like man others, Sarah Conly had a different view on being pressured in sex. She talked about being pressured into sex is not sexual assault unless they are threatened. If a girl consents to having sex, it is not considered sexual assault because she agreed to it. I feel as though Michael Kimmel and Gloria Steinem would agree with Sarah Conly because they only talk about there being a verbal consent in having sexual activities. If there is a verbal “yes” then it isn’t sexual assault because they agreed to it. I would argue this claim because of there being gender hierarchies. When women say “yes”, their agreement has less value compared to a man. Sometimes women feel like they have to agree under pressure because they do not know what men would do if they do not agree. Men have much more power, therefor it is easier for them to get what they want.