To the Editor:
I am writing in response to your editorial, "The Importance of Consent," in the August 14, 2003 edition of The Dartmouth. You state that "this project is all about dialogue, and in order to create meaningful change, we need to explore our differences in opinion." Yet you state earlier in your article that "To think anyone on this campus could have viewed [Pedersen's comic] strip as anything but insensitive and offensive is beyond my comprehension. Perhaps it's just me, but doesn't that seem a bit hypocritical? Everyone is entitled to their opinion except those to oppose you.
The thing that has become confused in this whole mess is Pedersen's intent with the comic. He was not, by any means, criticizing consensual sex! He was criticizing the T-shirt campaign, a fact which you seem to have confused. It is not the issue of consensual sex that The Dartmouth Editorial Board (Jul. 25, 2003) was worried would become a joke -- it was the t-shirt campaign itself. The Dartmouth was worried that the campaign would become a joke because the issue is so important -- they didn't want people to joke about the T-shirts and therefore make light of the issue.
You are "confident that the consent campaign will encourage our community to better understand what actions and statements are acceptable on our campus." I really doubt that anyone in the Dartmouth community thinks that actions or statements of non-consensual sex are acceptable. If a person does not believe these T-shirts will help stop rape, then he has every right to criticize them, and his views should not be confused with not supporting consensual sex.
