Health

Amy Schumer Reveals a Disturbing Reality About Consent

July 14th 2016

Amy Schumer didn't realize that her first time having sex was nonconsensual until long after the fact, she told reporter Allison Glock for Marie Claire, The Huffington Post reported.

The incident happened when she was 17 years old; the story is recounted below:

"My first sexual experience was not a good one. I didn’t think about it until I started reading my journal again. When it happened, I wrote about it almost like a throwaway. It was like, And then I looked down and realized he was inside me. He was saying, 'I’m so sorry' and 'I can’t believe I did this.'"

The man is no longer a part of Schumer's life, nor was he the last one to have sex with her without consent, she explained to Marie Claire. 

With this recent revelation, the "Trainwreck" actress sheds light on the very real problem with a general lack of understanding about what constitutes consent. Some states have passed "Yes Means Yes" laws — which require people desiring to engage in sexual activity with others to first obtain affirmative consent.

On her show "Inside Amy Schumer," the comedian previously delved into the issue of sexual assault, consent, and the fallacy that a woman is "asking for it" by wearing certain clothing or drinking alcohol:

Schumer is not the first female celebrity to open up about nonconsensual sex. The comedian's first sexual encounter is similar to one recounted by "Girls" star Lena Dunham, who wrote about being sexually assaulted in her memoir "Not That Kind of Girl." She, too, didn't acknowledge her experience to be nonconsensual until it was already over because she was under the influence of several substances. A culture of victim-blaming can cause women to question whether they were actually raped.

Dunham writes in her book:

"I feel like there are fifty ways it’s my fault. I fantasized. I took the big pill and the small pill, stuffed myself with substances to make being out in the world with people my own age a little bit easier. I was hungry to be seen. But I also know that at no moment did I consent to being handled that way. I never gave him permission to be rough, to stick himself inside me without a barrier between us. I never gave him permission. In my deepest self I know this, and the knowledge of it has kept me from sinking."

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