Mia Levitin is a cultural and literary critic based in London. Her work appears regularly in publications including the
Financial Times,
The Spectator and the
Guardian.
She is the author of
The Future of Seduction.
At the
Guardian, Levitin tagged
ten of the "books that informed [her] understanding of the complexities of consent," including:
Boys & Sex by Peggy Orenstein
Having interviewed more than 100 American college and college-bound boys, Orenstein sheds light on their views of 
masculinity and intimacy. It’s not that young men can’t read cues on consent, she concluded from her conversations, but that – due in large part to an unprecedented exposure to porn – they have been conditioned to prioritise their pleasure and interpret the cues through the lens of their own desires. Sex education, as such, would do well to address these blind spots, as well as remind young people that, as the educator Shafia Zaloom suggests, consent only ensures that sex is legal; it doesn’t necessarily make it ethical or good.
Read about
another entry on the list.
The Page 99 Test: Boys & Sex.
--Marshal Zeringue
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