Martoons

Hi mARToons fan!

“No Means No” is an ’80s era saying but the message is still of course relevant.

Witness the new messaging campaign springing up across campuses in Canada.

The wording has changed somewhat – the messages are like “Dinner and a movie doesn’t mean yes” or “coming over to my place and doing homework doesn’t mean yes”.

It’s actually a weaker message as ” … means no” is stronger and more direct than ” … does not mean yes.”

But that’s our society today – similar messages to before but softening them up.

And, as pointed out in today’s mARToon, even “yes” doesn’t always mean yes.

The big factor is CONTEXT.

Quite often someone will answer “yes” in your face just to avoid a tense situation.

It doesn’t mean they really and truly agree to what you are proposing.

It’s up to the asker to discern ‘is my impression that this person really and truly agrees?’

Simply saying, “Well, you said yes so it’s yes” isn’t good enough.

Effective communication is often very subtle, and and it’s up to you to learn how to read that.

Cheers, mARTy West, editor, clickmARToons.com

Contact me at west_martin@hotmail.com or assistant editor Thomas Rawling at thomasrawling@gmail.com

no means no, date rape, consensual sex, sexual assault