No Such Thing as Consensual Incest

According to Dictionary.com, consent is defined as “permission, approval or agreement.” I strongly believe that no one in their proper state of mind would truly consent to such horrific behavior exemplified in the relationship between Mackenzie Phillips and her father. 

If (and that is a big if) someone truly desired to have incestuous relations, I believe such behavior could only spawn from emotional or psychological circumstances or situations beyond the person’s control that prevent them from making a rational decision.

With this in mind, I find it unsettling that Phillips used the word “consensual” to describe the sexual relationship she had with her father. Personally, I feel that is her way of defending herself against claims that she should have known better, being that the incest took place when she was an adult.

I find no evidence of consent in the words Phillips used to describe her first sexual encounter with her father. “I woke up that night from a blackout to find myself having sex with my own father,” writes Phillips in her newly released tell-all book, High on Arrival. What part of that indicates consent? Nothing.

Phillips has been quick to defend her father, claiming that he “was not a bad man.” It is clear to me, especially after reading this article about Stockholm Syndrome, that Phillips is extremely traumatized and unable to realize that what she did was not her fault. Not objecting is not the same as giving consent.

I am deeply sorry that Phillips had to endure such an impure relationship with her father, and my heart goes out to others who are fighting the same battle. If I could tell these people one thing, it would be that the blame and responsibility does not lie with the victim, because incest is never truly consensual.

What do you think? Should Mackenzie Phillips have known better? Did she have a choice? Or, was she stuck in a nightmare with no way out?