Can Cats Teach Us About Consent?
Consent: giving permission for something to happen. A simple term, but not so easy to teach.
Consent is the foundational aspect of any healthy relationship; is the person you’re around ok with your actions towards them? Despite consent being key in any kind of relationship, it’s not being taught to most children around the world.
In a survey done by Planned Parenthood of adults from 18–95, it was shown that there are “divergent” views of what is considered to be consent and sexual assault. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there are only 24 states that require public schools to teach sex education. Only 20 of those states require that the information being taught is actually medically, factually and technically accurate.
The spread of informative and accurate sexual education doesn’t seem to be high on the list of priorities for most countries. Some countries like China and India are almost completely absent of any sort of Sex Ed, while some like The Netherlands and Belgium have mandatory classes covering everything from consent to self-pleasure starting at the age of 4.
So, where do cats come into play?
Cats are notorious for their hatred of touch. Unlike a dog, you can’t simply run up to a cat, pick it up and play with it. So, in order to be on good terms with your cat, you need to wait for them to say yes. There’s a certain level of trust that needs to be earned from the cat, and even when there is trust, you still need the go-ahead every time you touch them.
With schools having minimal, if any, sex education, how will children learn one of the most important aspects of sex: consent? Some parents have said their children’s interactions with cats help explain the idea of consent better than they could. Alain Livio, father of three, said, “After having my daughter around the new cat just for a few days, she already understood what was ok for him and what wasn’t. And the best part is that she doesn’t seem to resent any of these boundaries, she’s just accepted that this is how cats work.”
As we grow up, things like consent can seem to get complicated and hard to understand. But, it’s a simple idea. And having something as simple as a cat teach this idea makes the most sense.
While it’s not a very practical process to give every family a cat for the sole purpose of teaching consent, it’s a step in the right direction for finding alternatives to sex education taught in public schools. It’s key to keep an open mind to learning about sex and what comes with it.
