ipl-logo

Desensitizing The Essay 'Mistaken Sex' By Jonathan Herring

1514 Words7 Pages

Title: Should the law adopt Jonathan Herring’s proposal for how sexual consent should be understood in his essay ‘Mistaken Sex’? If so, how would you justify the reform? If not, why would you reject his proposal or how would you modify it?
Herring’s proposal considers relevant factors in terms of the defendant’s mentality and value of sexual autonomy. However, his proposal does not consider the nature of sexual situations and the effect of desensitizing of sexual offences following his reform. The law should instead add an offence indicating the severity between the levels of rape/assault by penetration and sexual assault to include cases of sex from mistaken consent.
Herring’s proposal reforming the current legal rule regarding consent emphasizes …show more content…

Herring (2005, p.12) then questions whether sexual relationships should be added to the prior list.
Deception and dishonesty in sexual settings have different connotations from those in commercial or civil settings. Procuring benefits through withholding information in commercial deals and civil contracts has been equated to fraud since the inception of these types of agreements. However, deception is inherent to human nature and evolved alongside sexual relationships itself.
Deception is as fundamental to human nature as sex itself. Dr David Smith (2007, p.32) states that ‘evolutionary biology does not endorse the popular and reassuring conviction that human minds are tools for…the pursuit of truth’. The mental capacity of deception benefitted our ancestor’s survival and reproductive success (Smith, 2007, pp.32-34) enough to become a fundamental aspect of the human psyche. All living things have a history of ‘…exploiting one another by sending dishonest signals’ (Smith, 2007, p.63). From the mirror orchid impersonating a female wasp and capitalizing ‘…on the wasp’s sexual urges…’ (Smith, 2007, p.65) to an individual lying about his/her financial status to seduce someone, there is a rudimentary link between deception and sexual relations. Therefore, it is unreasonable to consider any level of dishonesty being tantamount to vitiating consent in sexual

Show More
Related

Mr. Lazarus Flaws Of The Legal System

673 Words | 3 Pages

On May 12, 2013 a Sydney man Mr Lazarus was accused of raping an 18 year old woman in an alley outside his father’s nightclub. This case caused discussion about NSW sexual consent laws. This case clearly highlights the effectiveness and some major flaws of the legal system. During the first jury trial in NSW District Court Mr Lazarus was convicted for rape without sexual consent and resulted in a maximum of five-year prison sentence. After serving in prison for 11 months the Court of Criminal Appeal conducted a second trial for the case which resulted in an acquittal as Judge Tupman claimed that Mr Lazarus truly did believe that Ms Mullins did consent which is a crucial element of the offence of sexual intersource without consent.

Read More

How Does Alex Committed A Number Of Sexual Offences Against Children

1511 Words | 7 Pages

QUESTION 1 (i) The scenario given is one regarding Alex, a fourteen-year-old teenage boy, who has had experimental sexual intercourse with the victim – Simone, a twelve-year-old girl. Hence, on the face of it, Alex has committed a number of sexual offences against children under the age of thirteen, contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The various strict liability offences committed by Alex will be discussed as follows.

Read More

Essay 'Threats To Become A Cultural Cancer' By Ericsson

751 Words | 4 Pages

Ericsson’s essay says this, “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid confrontation, we spare people's feelings, we conveniently forget, we keep secrets, we justify lying to the big-guy institutions.” Even though lying is not a big deal for some people in today’s society, it is still a “cultural cancer”. Also, it is a big deal to some other

Read More

The Ways We Lie By Stephanie Ericsson

835 Words | 4 Pages

Lying becomes a normal part of our everyday routine because “everyone does it.” Ericsson goes further in describing the effects of lies by stating, “Our acceptance of lies becomes a cultural cancer that eventually shrouds and reorders reality until moral garbage becomes as invisible to us as water is to a fish” (Ericsson, 2004, p 128). Lying presents itself in many seemingly harmless forms. When a lie does not present itself as a blatant lie, it often slips unnoticed because the other forms of lies have already been accepted as part of everyday

Read More

Stephanie Ericsson The Ways We Lie Analysis

451 Words | 2 Pages

Lying has not been formally considered morally wrong or right regardless of the severity. Although it’s near impossible to go through a whole day without even stretching the truth once and decide which types of lies are okay or not. Stephanie Ericsson uses strong metaphors and personal experiences in “The Ways We Lie” to justify the use of our everyday lying. This unbiased essay will help readers decide whether it’s okay to lie on a daily basis. Ericsson starts out with saying she told the bank that her deposit was in the mail even though she hadn't written out the check (495).

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of The Way We Lie

1221 Words | 5 Pages

Ericsson cites several examples of different types of lies, such as “the little white lie”, “Group-Thinking”, and “Dismissal”. Through these examples, the author illustrates the different motives behind why people lie and the effects that it has on individuals and society. The author claims that society’s acceptance of lying has led to a lack of trust in personal relationships, institutions and even the government. Ericsson also argues that lying is not only a moral issue, but it is also a psychological issue as it can lead to guilt and fear of being caught. The author believes that the use of lies creates an environment where individuals are not able to rely on the truth, and it creates a culture of

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of The Ways We Lie

1285 Words | 6 Pages

Nicholas Martin Ms.Williams English 111 D-35 14 December 2015 The Allure Of Lying Stephanie Ericsson is an American screenwriter and author, Ericsson’s piece “The Ways We Lie” (1993) uses classification to display different types of lies people use and the way lies affect people. Richard Gunderman is a doctor and professor at Indiana University, Gundermans essay “Is Lying Bad For Us?” (2013) uses a broad and casual view to support the claim that lying affects people's health. The classification that Ericsson uses in its entirety is a collection of short personal allusions describing a few of the many types of lying, this method is not the best way to persuade someone that lying is unacceptable.

Read More

Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Deception Analysis

1719 Words | 7 Pages

Deception is a powerful tool in seeking a certain motive; therefore,

Read More

Common Decency Susan Jacoby

1787 Words | 8 Pages

‘Common Decency’ written by Susan Jacoby, an American author, was originally published in the New York Times in April 1991. The main idea of Jacoby’s essay “Common Decency “ which was a written response to Camille Pagalia’s book “Sexual Personae “deals with the controversy over “date rape” and mixed signals between men and women. According to Jacoby, “Most date rapes do not happen because a man honestly mistakes a woman’s “no” for “yes” or a “maybe”. They occur because a minority of men –an ugly minority, to be sure –can’t stand to take “no” for an answer” (585). In her thesis, the author is stating that there is no such thing as accidental rape and the only reason it happens is because a few men act out violently when they are rejected.

Read More

Theme Of Lying In The Giver

1095 Words | 5 Pages

One of the greatest commandments written in history is “Thou Shalt not lie.” From a young age we have been taught of the negative effects of lying. We are taught, as toddlers, not to cheat on tests and punished for our dishonesty when caught. But as we grow older we discover that lying is not as terrible as we were raised to believe. Sometimes lying is safer than the truth.

Read More

Never Let Me Go Quote Analysis

582 Words | 3 Pages

Deception is something that may be done intentionally or unintentionally, either to harm, or to keep from harm. Kazuo Ishiguro in his novel Never Let Me Go, displays various staff members at the boarding school Hailsham, deceiving the students by not telling them directly who they truly are, or what they truly are, and what they were created to do. In this case, the “guardians” were shielding the students from the fact that they are clones created to donate their vital organs and then die. The problem was not that they avoided the topic altogether, but the students had been “told and not told.” As the book states, “The problem, as I see it, is that you’ve been told and not told.

Read More

Opposing Views Associated With The Belief In Rape Culture

854 Words | 4 Pages

People don’t understand that when a criminal says they “couldn’t resist” that, in terms of rape, that it’s used as a defence. Any other crime and we call that a confession, and there’s something wrong with that. The issue is rape culture; a concept where the idea of rape is pervasive and normalised within society. Things under the title of rape culture include victim blaming, the over-sexualisation of females, and the idea that society is better off with a patriarchal system.

Read More

Inadvertent Recklessness Analysis

927 Words | 4 Pages

In Fitzgerald v Kennard , the court was asked to consider whether it is necessary to prove that an accused adverted to the issue of whether or not the complaint was consenting, in order to establish an offence under s 61L. In the same case, Cole JA made a reference to Kirby P’s judgment in R v Kitchener . He agreed to what Kirby P said: “Every individual has a right to the human dignity of his or her own person. Having sexual intercourse with another, without the consent of that other, amounts to an affront to that other’s human dignity and an invasion of the privacy of that person’s body and personality.”

Read More

Why Is Non Consensual Sex In Marriage Be Rape

974 Words | 4 Pages

Non-consensual sex neglects one’s age or marital status. Thus, substantial investigation on the issue has accumulated much support for the view that non-consensual sex even in marriage, is deemed to be a rape offense. On the contrary, numerous countries around the world have societal norms that support the perception that marriage gives men the right to have sex with their wives; and for this reason, non-sensual sex in marriage is not considered to be rape. Even so, this does not invalidate the fact that engaging in sexual intercourse without one’s consent is considered rape regardless of marital status.

Read More

Cheating In Today's Society The Notation Theory Of I Deserve It Ideology

651 Words | 3 Pages

The deception causes stress from the fear of being caught, labeled as being a cheater and not trustworthy. "The armour of falsehood is subtly wrought out of darkness, and hides a man not only from others, but from his own soul." E.M.

Read More

More about Desensitizing The Essay 'Mistaken Sex' By Jonathan Herring

Related Topics

Open Document