A woman who shared her views on the difference between regretting a consensual sexual encounter and being a victim of sexual assault sparked a heated online debate after another person irresponsibly claimed her regret is a sign of rape.
The conversation, which was shared on Bored Panda on Monday, started when Imgur user sketchysamurai posted a screengrab of a woman’s tweet explaining her own experience with regret following consensual sex along with the alarming response she got.
‘I’ve had consensual sex & regretted it later. I thought I wanted to do it. Made a mistake. Wasn’t rape at all,’ the woman named Leann tweeted in 2015.
Sparking debate: Imgur user sketchysamurai posted a screengrab of a woman’s tweet explaining her experience with regret following consensual sex (stock image used)
‘Wasn’t rape at all’: Leann explained on Twitter in 2015 she has had consensual sex that she later regretted
Bold argument: Another Twitter user named Jesse tried claiming Leanna was a victim of rape because she did ‘not fully 100 per cent concent’
Irresponsible: Men and women alike hit back at Jesse’s misunderstanding of the difference between sexual assault and regret after consensual sex
However, a woman known as Jesse boldly disagreed with her, responding: ‘No, if you regret it then you did not fully 100 per cent consent and that is rape.’
She continued: ‘You may not want to admit you were raped because it’s very traumatic but you were raped.’
Unsurprisingly, the woman’s skewed logic received plenty of backlash, especially when Leann made it clear that her experience with sexual regret was not rape.
Along with the tweets, the Imgur user shared an articulate comeback to Jesse’s dangerous argument.
Clapping back: Along with the tweets, the Imgur user shared a very articulate comeback to Jesse’s argument
‘If you regret consent, that consent is annulled and ceases to exist,’ the person wrote. ‘If you regret having a child, that child is unborn and ceases to exist,’ the Facebook user known as ‘J’ wrote.
‘If you regret taking an [overdose], that suicide attempt is voided and the pills turn into Smarties in your stomach and you do not die. If you regret jumping off a rooftop, you stop falling mid-flight and magically re-appear someplace safe.’
Plenty of women took to the comments section of the recent Imgur post to slam Jesse for making such an ill-considered claim.
‘As a woman who was legitimately raped, I hope that woman is banished to the darkest, cruelest depths of hell,’ CrazyMrowLady wrote.
‘Falsely accusing rape because you regret your actions is part of why so many real rapes go un-punished,’ emstewart90 commented.
And emmagizer added: ‘As a feminist, I can tell you right now that what she is saying is absolutely wrong and humor-ous. THAT is not feminism.’
However, Nobody 7713 made sure to point out the difference between sexual regret and a woman’s right to revoke her consent in the middle of a sexual act.
‘Mid-sex, consent can be revoked at any time, at which point the other person does have to stop or it becomes rape,’ the person explained.
Unsurprisingly, many men were also disturbed by Jesse’s response to Leann.
‘It is kinda scary, particularly as a male, that this exists,’ Crimpwithyourthumb admitted.
‘What’s done is done, if you consented before the act, tough luck. I am sorry you regret it, but that doesn’t mean sending the other to jail,’ mpuone added.