Consent Culture: Empowerment in Action (Sexual Citizenship Framework)

Sexual Citizenship & Consent

April 2024

Created at the University of San Diego, this zine explores the complexities of consent through the framework of Sexual Citizenship, drawing from Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus by Jennifer S. Hirsch and Shamus Khan. Rather than treating consent as a simple yes-or-no exchange, the project examines how consent is shaped by power, identity, access, and social context—and how the language of consent can be used both to empower and to obscure harm..

The zine invites readers to move beyond dominant, individualistic narratives of consent that often ignore structural realities such as gender, race, disability, sexuality, and institutional power. Grounded in the Sexual Citizenship model, it asks critical questions about who is afforded agency, whose boundaries are believed, and how consent education can reproduce harm when it is divorced from lived experience and material conditions.

Through reflection, critique, and personal insight, the project encourages readers to sit with the tensions embedded in how consent is taught, discussed, and enforced. Rather than offering rigid rules or universal scripts, the zine opens space for more nuanced, community-centered understandings of safety—ones that prioritize agency, accountability, and care over legalism or moral simplicity.

By translating academic theory into accessible, visually engaging language, this project functions as both an educational resource and a critical intervention. It reflects my commitment to public-facing pedagogy that honors complexity while remaining grounded in care, context, and collective responsibility.

Behind the Zine: Process & Framework

This project was developed as both an educational tool and a critical intervention. Drawing from the Sexual Citizenship framework, the zine was designed to bridge theory and lived experience—making complex ideas accessible without flattening their nuance. The structure intentionally combines reflection, critique, and personal insight, allowing readers to engage intellectually while also locating themselves within the material.

Care was taken to avoid prescriptive or punitive language. Instead of positioning readers as needing correction, the zine treats consent as something shaped by systems, histories, and relationships—something we continually practice, revise, and learn together.

Public Education & Community Impact

This zine has been used in educational and advocacy spaces to support conversations around consent that move beyond checklists and slogans. By reframing consent as relational and contextual, it offers a tool for classrooms, workshops, and community discussions seeking deeper engagement with issues of power, agency, and accountability.

The project reflects my broader commitment to public-facing education that challenges harm without reproducing it—creating resources that are thoughtful, accessible, and grounded in care.

Access & Community Use

This zine was created to support learning in community. If you are an educator, community advocate, nonprofit organization, or student group interested in physical copies for a class, workshop, or event, please reach out through the contact form. I’m always happy to work together to get copies into people’s hands free of charge whenever possible, prioritizing access and collective care.