ABSTRACT
This part of the book focuses on the diffusion of the gender revolution into people’s everyday lives. This chapter documents how definitions of sexual consent are changing as a result of the #MeToo movement in our local focus group sample. Traditional gender norms around consent were expressed by a majority of focus group men. These resisters objected to changes brought about by #MeToo, including women’s demands for sexual self-determination. In contrast, women and nonbinary innovators embraced an affirmative consent standard and appreciated women’s empowerment and rising accountability for inappropriate actions. Although this chapter documents a gulf between genders, some of the men were innovators or fused traditional discourses with support for women’s empowerment and self-determination. While all genders pushed social and cultural change forward by embracing and internalizing ideas from the gender revolution, the majority of the men were at least partially rejecting these changes. The diffusion of #MeToo into the daily lives of non-activists indicates the movement’s broad reach, as well as the limits of the changes thus far.
