just reposting here some (lightly edited & reformatted) thoughts I already shared on Twitter. as I'm sure is the case for many of you, I've found this storyline really thought-provoking so far and haven't been able to get it off my mind since I watched the first part last night-
what I appreciate most (besides Vicky & Sydney's performances of course 👌) about this Betsy & Dylan sl is how nuanced & multilayered it is. There's not an out-and-out villain (however much Lisa wants there to be one), both persons involved are impacted in different ways, and it's not just simply about consent.
I absolutely get why Sydney was calling this a coming-of-age storyline. Already it has highlighted the naïvety of youth*. Betsy & Dylan think because they're 18 & both consenting & open to experimentation, that they know all there is to know. That what they watch online & what their peers talk about is all there is to the world. That if their parents don't relate, it's because they're old fogeys who just don't 'get' sex.
But it's very apparent that they were completely unaware of the risks (legal & medical) of the particular kink they've chosen to explore. I'm really curious about if this storyline is going to delve into the impact of online porn on young [& straight] men's understanding of & approaches to sex (it's notable that it's Dylan who chokes Betsy, and seemingly never vice versa).
Already we've seen Sean bring up the teens' limited understanding of consent - it's clear they've been practicing the kink very casually. the SL also indirectly raises the question of how can you give *informed* consent to a sexual act if you are not aware of all the inherent risks?
So it seems likely then that they've learnt about non-fatal choking from *irresponsible sources*. Teens are impulsive & not prone to research; it's understandable that these 2 haven't taken the time to properly research the potential risks etc. This only makes more apparent the importance of not kink shaming or moralising about the act; the more these things become taboo, the more limited access young ppl like Betsy & Dylan will have to *responsible* sources of information. These stats show strangulation during sex is prevalent among young ppl.
Teens will always be teens. Just as with general sex education, abstinence messaging would achieve nothing productive; instead they need to be educated on the very real risks of engaging in these kinds of acts (no matter how much they trust one another), and that the concept of consent becomes much more nuanced in these situations.
*the other element this storyline has exposed is the lack of awareness across *all ages* about the potential dangers of strangling (regardless of how light the pressure). That's not a matter of naïvety, but how little it's addressed in mainstream media surely plays a big role here.
I've seen a few disingenuous takes on Twitter that flatten what this storyline is saying. At no point has Corrie said this isn't normal or that nobody does it. What it *has* made clear is that *not everybody* does it (countering Betsy & Dylan's misconception) & that it can be very dangerous.
Re: how Dylan is responding so far to the accusations levelled against him, plus the spoilers regarding how he will react in upcoming episodes, it feels horribly realistic that a teenaged boy would act in this way. Nobody likes being accused of doing something wrong/harming someone (especially a loved one) & boys are socially conditioned to shirk responsibility - just as girls are socially conditioned to ASSUME responsibility… Even with things we're not actually responsible for!
I do wonder if Corrie is going to explore the gendered aspect of this whole scenario - e.g. the increasingly messed up attitudes towards sex, women, & relationships that young men (even 'well-meaning' ones) have in today's society (due to the specific porn, influencers, etc they see) - as well as the repercussions
I'm really intrigued to see how this storyline will continue to play out & what further discussions it will portray as well as incite amongst us viewers.
(reproduced from this thread & a few other tweets)
