This morning, the internet was afire with talk about the latest mishap by Scott Morrison and the Australian government. The culprit? A new video that aims to educate teenagers on consent.
As first reported by news.com.au, the video in question is a bit of a hot mess. It features a woman smearing a milkshake over a man's face as an example of "when one person takes action without an agreement" — aka without mutual consent.
The same analogy is used when deciding to order pizza and questioning whether an individual can touch someone else's butt.
All of these situations are illustrated under the backdrop of a retro-esque diner, with the girl being positioned as the abuser — which was certainly an interesting choice to make.
The video was made as part of The Good Society — a teaching resource designed to help educate students about respectful relationships.
But, the response has been less than savoury, with many Australians slamming both the video and its confusing messaging.
@MatildaBoseley @samanthamaiden Many to choose from, but that is about the worst government media campaign I've ever seen.
@MatildaBoseley @samanthamaiden Can I revoke the consent I gave momentarily to watch this? My brain feels dirty and violated.
@MatildaBoseley @samanthamaiden Something so cringeworthy I can’t even watch it all. Conjured up by creepy old antiquated robots who are so out of touch they thought this was worth throwing money at. Empathy starts with having a vague idea about the people you’re engaging with
I understood consent before this video and now I don’t
The gov's milkshake consent video is fucked. It's • Sexual but doesn't mention sex • Focuses on maintaining relationships (like Morrison's Christian counselling funding) • The (statistically unlikely female) perpetrator is the only one offered support https://t.co/x5dH4t5urY
@samanthamaiden @ScottMorrisonMP This is truly appalling for so many reasons. I'd be highly surprised if young people do not totally pan this dreadful stuff that treats them like complete dills. It is confusing, overly wordy, condescending and almost certainly will not achieve the desired outcome.
@samanthamaiden @ScottMorrisonMP So again they have used tax dollars to absolutely stuff up a fairly basic msg. Wtf has milkshakes got to do with anything!!! I love they way they depict the woman being the one who is the abuser ( I know that is sometimes the case but most often not). They just don’t get it.
The milkshake video can't really be milkshake ducked, because it was already so cooked on arrival. I think what we have instead is a new term, 'milkshake video', for things that immediately suck.
I spent three days digging through the government's website. I watched every video. I read all of the accompanying materials. I cannot work out what the milkshakes, tacos or sharks are supposed to represent. And I run an org called "End Rape on Campus Australia". https://t.co/sshajJPAkk
Like, teenagers are aware of what sex is? You can just say sex. Surely you would think that when trying to stop people from committing rape and sexual assault, we could just use the words.
Now, this is just my opinion, but teenagers are a lot smarter than this video gives them credit for.
Sure, analogies are great at explaining concepts, but if we're talking about sexual consent, let's use the words "sex" and "consent". This would hopefully normalise younger people saying these words out loud and asking for consent when needed.
