Content note: This is an essay about alcohol and sex, and touches on some of the consent violations that can occur when these things are mixed. Nothing particularly graphic or violent is contained herein.
I’ve been reading a great memoir about a woman’s recovery from alcoholism (The Recovering by Leslie Jamison, if you’re curious) and, while alcohol addiction isn’t something I’ve personally struggled with, there’s a lot in it that I’m resonating with – particularly the stuff about addictions being a response to a persistent inner feeling of lack and unlovedness, and the stuff about how alcohol can make the notion of consent a bit fuzzy even when it’s clearly not.