It sounds like something out of a crime drama: a pop star is groped at a meet ‘n greet, and then the groper turns around to sue his victim for defamation of character.  But this isn’t the latest Law & Order episode — it’s why Taylor Swift has been making headlines again. David Mueller, a country radio DJ, was fired from his job over the incident and sued Swift over it, claiming that she was trying to destroy his career — as if accusations of sexual misconduct have ever destroyed a man’s career.  Or even prevented him from becoming President of the United States.

Taylor Swift has been the subject of much criticism regarding her feminism (or possible lack thereof) and for her appropriation of black bodies and use of colonialist imagery.  She’s been accused of ‘fame whoring’ and exploiting her relationships for song material. I don’t even claim to have kept up with her Kardashian feud or her clique of famous girlfriends, notable in their absence of support during this ordeal.

In Swift’s place, many people would have settled rather than face a potentially humiliating day in court, having to “relive the shame and humiliation of what took place,” according to Swift’s lawyer.  But she didn’t back down.   Swift counter-sued for assault, seeking damages of $1.  Yes, you read that right — one measly dollar.  Again, in the words of her lawyer: “the single value of which is immeasurable to all women in this situation.  It means no means no, and it tells every woman that they will determine what is tolerable to their body.”

Rape culture is grounded in the idea that someone could be ‘entitled’ to sex, or is somehow deserving of it.  It’s the insidious belief that a short skirt makes a woman cheap, or that ‘the friend zone’ both exists and is an insult.  Deposit compliments and kindness-tokens, receive sex.  Or it’s in the idea that someone in the public eye is public property — that, when private phones and cloud storage are hacked and nudes are ‘leaked’ (stolen), it’s the fault of the celebrity in the picture.  ‘Shouldn’t have taken the pictures if you didn’t want them out there’ — how often do we hear that?  Mueller had paid to attend a meet n’ greet and felt entitled to put his hand up Swift’s skirt, as if that were somehow the access he had paid for.

Last November, Trinity News reported that a major EU study found that 21% of Irish people believed that having sexual contact without consent was sometimes okay.  In 2014, the TCDSU’s own survey found that one in four students had been sexually assaulted.  I’m sure anyone reading this has a story of them, or a friend, who was on the receiving end of something like this.  Maybe it was a random creep in a nightclub copping a feel, or a partner who thought ‘no’ meant ‘convince me’.  This isn’t rare, and it’s why it’s important that someone with Taylor Swift’s platform used it to make the point that this isn’t okay.  ‘Consent is sexy’ is becoming a slogan — but no, it’s not sexy. It’s mandatory.

Bodily autonomy is an issue fundamental to our health (physical and mental) and sense of our own humanity. It’s a cornerstone for healthy sexuality of any stripe.  TCDSU affirmed this when they began running consent workshops in Halls last year, and reaffirmed it with the plan to run more this coming September.  Contact Damien McClean (welfare@tcdsu.org) for details.