“Tea Consent” is a short video produced by Blue Seat Studios, a group that creates humorous, educational content on social issues. The video uses offering someone a cup of tea as a metaphor for sexual consent. The video proposes a variety of situations where it would not be acceptable to force someone to drink a cup of tea (e.g. they are unconscious and you pour it down their throat). According to the video, getting someone’s consent to give them tea is like getting someone’s consent to have sex.

discussion

Why does the video use stick figures? Is it important to know the identity of these figures?

In what kinds of situations does the video say it’s not okay to make someone drink tea? How is knowing not to give someone who doesn’t want tea or can’t drink it like sexual consent?

Is the simple black and white animation and metaphor an effective mode of presentation? How, when, and why does the video use the color red as a point of contrast?

Are there similar metaphors you could adapt to explain consent? What are they?  Could you write your own script for a video that discusses consent?