In the great tradition of small books on large topics, Teaching Consent tells the stories of children, teens, teachers, and educators in consent and respectful relationship classes.
Blending memoir, expertise, hilarious anecdotes, and poignant stories from teachers and students, this window into classrooms and schoolyards is a must read for any parent.
“Consent is an everyday word that, if it’s embedded young, becomes an unthinking empathetic and considerate approach to any interaction with other people. When little children grow up with this, they need very little help taking it into sexual relationships when they’re older.”
Teaching Consent describes how we educate children, young and old, about sex, consent, respect, social media, pornography, bullying, sexuality, and gender diversity. It explains why this education is so crucial, how the experts manage different needs and age groups, and the pressure on teachers, families, and students to get this done and get it done right.
Read the first extract here and the second one here.
REVIEWS:
“With characteristic wit, humility and insight, Jane Gilmore reveals the revolutionary potential of consent education. This is about sex, and so much more. At its heart, it’s about a movement to bring kids back into contact with their instincts. It’s about overturning the idea that’s driven much of our society’s ills: that successful people impose their will over others. True respect is a radical concept in our culture – and a skill that can lead us to end violence, have more satisfying sex, sustain our relationships, and even save the planet.” – Jess Hill
“A confronting and, most importantly, intensely useful book about the simple yet endlessly complicated issue of consent.” – Margaret Simons
“A book of soaring clarity and deep enjoyment. This book answers all the questions, is a cracking read and, at times, utterly hilarious. Not sure how Gilmore did it but she has written a book about the sticky, confusing and at times depressing world of sex and consent and made it a celebration, a liberation and makes me want to shag everyone immediately. This is the dawning of the age of clarity, respect and connection. All you need is this gorgeous book to navigate the daunting waters of sex and consent to find yourself on Pleasure Island.” – Catherine Deveny
About the author:
Jane Gilmore is a writer, feminist, PhD candidate and former journalist based in Melbourne, Australia. She has been writing about the causes and effects of violence for almost twenty years and is now undertaking a PhD asking perpetrators of sexual violence what they know about shame and masculinity, and looking for ways this could be used to improve prevention education.
Jane has a Master of Journalism from Melbourne University and has written for Crikey, The Guardian, the ABC, SBS, Junkee, The Age, The Daily Telegraph, The Sydney Morning Herald, Meanjin, The Saturday Paper, News.com.au, The New Daily, the Hoopla, and Inkl, among others.
Her first book, Fixed It: Violence and the representation of women was published by Penguin Random House in 2019. She was one of three contributors to the book Work. Love. Body. in 2021. Fairy Tale Princesses Will Kill Your Children was published in 2023 and Rape is a Theoretical Crime will be released in late 2025.
Book Details
Title: Teaching Consent: Real Voices from the Consent Classroom
ISBN: 978-0-6455296-0-9
Pages: 120
Publication date: 30 July, 2022