We’ve seen a lot of unsavoury attempts to commercialise women’s bodies over the years. Brands using vulva highlighters to capitalise on the stigma that drives the demand for vulva bleaching and labiaplasty. Companies selling feminist-adored clothes that profit off of women’s demand for equality – yet exploit women along the production process. But of all of these countless attempts, nothing feels quite as off-key as the consent condom.
Sold by Argentinian company Tulipán, the ‘consent condom’ comes in a box that requires four hands to open it, pressing down buttons on the sides of the box. ‘If they don't say yes, it means no,’ the tagline on their advert says, ‘Consent is the most important thing in sex.’
Unsurprisingly, the product has been ripped apart online. ‘If a man doesn’t care about your consent I can promise you he doesn’t care about putting on a condom first,’ said Blaec Francis on Twitter- to the tune of more than 37,000 likes. ‘The worrying thing is that this frames consent as a “discussion” and implies that the real issue is that women might make it up/exaggerate after consensual sex,’ added Holly Baxter, editor at The Independent, ‘This is a product designed essentially to protect men from rape accusations, not to protect women from rape.’
According to ad agency BBDO Argentina, whom created the ‘consent pack’ for Tulipán, the condom was not created a solution to sexual assault, but to raise awareness of the need for a conversation about consent before having sex. ‘Tulipán has always spoken of safe pleasure,’ said BBDO spokesperson Joaquin Campins, ‘but for this campaign, we understood that we had to talk about the most important thing in every sexual relationship — pleasure is possible only if you both give your consent.’
While their intent may have not have been sinister, ultimately it led to the creation of a product that is fundamentally flawed in how it presents consent and actually – considering this was created by an ad agency that should fully understand the impact of toxic messaging – sends a very dangerous message about what consent actually is.
It’s not just the fact that men who don’t care for consent won’t care for using a condom, it’s that if this is meant to truly educate consent-confused men about what it actually means, this implies that consent is a tick box before sex. Much like the consent contract app created last year, it teaches people that once consent has been given it cannot be revoked, or that you can consent to some things but not others. It completely ignores the need to ensure consent is continuous, to respect people’s boundaries, and essentially – as Holly Baxter stated - only provides a way for men to argue that they were given consent before sex if a rape allegation is brought against them.
And while the Twitter response may have you believe that no one would be foolish enough to take this product seriously, in actuality it’s indicative of a growing trend where men feel the need to establish some sort of recorded consent before sex. Last year, the Evening Standard reported that more and more men are asking women to record consent videos and voice notes before sex.
Ultimately, what products like the consent condom and apps that allow consent recordings prove is that consent cannot be commercialised. Putting a price on consent is an entirely separate class issue. But fundamentally, commodifying consent is doing the exact opposite of what it intends to do. And if we consider the fact that most of these brands are likely following this line of advertising purely to go viral, it shows the lack of respect these companies actually have for women. Consent is something that can only be taught, not bought. The sooner brands realise that the better.