Call me a weirdo, but consent is very important to me. I am careful about touching anyone who may not be comfortable with such, ask whether I may kiss a date goodnight unless the signals are VERY clear, and would not kiss someone who was clearly uncomfortable with such. This generally serves me well.
This situation has power disparity, an individual who was openly uncomfortable, and plenty of people saying the kid should feel lucky. He wanted his first kiss to be within the context of a relationship. Instead, it was a celebrity photo-op.
If someone does not want to be kissed, kissing them is not okay simply because it makes them famous. Or for any other reason (with the possible exception of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation).

It's situational. There are only a few instances where implied consent applies. I don't know what occurred with Katy Perry, but it likely was in relation to some "normal" show business type event. Those situations have an expectation that was created years ago, but tradition doesn't mean it should continue.

I'm wondering if those in favor of this model practice this. You ask someone before you kiss them? Every time?

I don't see the harm here? What is everyone afraid of? If someone tried to kiss me and i didnt like it, id say stop, they'd apologize and it's over. If it goes beyond that, that's the crime isnt it?

I completly agree with you. alls fare in love and war.

Katy can harass me whenever she's in the area and she's in the mood. Having said that, you don't touch without being invited, and if you mistake something for an invitation that isn't one, you apologize and back the hell off.

She was joking around; I thought it was cute. The fuss people are making of it is like.......

I've seen reports of people pushing for the fairytale "Sleeping Beauty" to be banned because the Prince didn't ask her permission before kissing her awake. Pathetic.

On V-J Day in 1945 a soldier grabbed a random nurse and kissed her in his elation that the war was over. That picture marked a generation and was loved and admired by everyone and is firmly embedded in pop culture. If it happened today, the nurse would scream assault and the soldier would face a court martial and be dishonorably discharged. It sucks that in less than a century this country has completely lost any sense of innocence and everything is viewed through such a jaded lens. That boy on AI that was kissed by KP is now far more famous than he ever would have been otherwise...and tens of thousands of guys (and girls!) would trade places with him in a heartbeat. If he is really upset, he is taking himself way too seriously.

(((PS -- there is a HUGE difference between a kiss in public under rolling cameras and forcing yourself on them in private such as in an office or hotel room -- or threatening their job/career/livelihood/etc. Most people have the ability to discern between what is innocent/playful/public and what is nefarious/threatening/hidden)))

This is a really complicated matter, yet I tend to agree with the author.

I believe that small advances without asking are pretty much fine, provided that they stop at the first sign that they may be undesired.

And more daring advances... Well I think these call for a strong push or even a face slap... everyone has the right to defend his/her private space and body, including violently if so needed, but even then I would abstain from calling this "sexual assault". I keep this term for much more serious offences.

Totally ludicrous, if that is sexual harassment then he has more issues than readers digest!

I watched her on the show and thought her behavior was out there. I am not conservative in the least and sexually mature and I think she pushed boundaries too much.

It is sexual assault. Any time someone touches you inappropriately without consent it is. Sorry, if it wasn't Katy Perry and it was, say, a 15 year old girl being forcibly kissed by an ugly fat man would you shrug it off? No one should be TOUCHED without permission.

I had to stop myself from decking an overly friendly cop the other day because he came up behind me and hugged me. He didn't know I'm an abuse victim with PTSD and I could have hurt him. Im not saying it was sexual harassment but still, no one should be touched without consent.

Period.

Unwanted contact should not be pushed on the unwilling.

Like many other animals, humans have mating rituals. We're currently in the midst of a process of outlawing them. Yes, predators like Weinstein, Spacey and Cosby need to be dealt with, but once the Internet gets a taste for blood, it wants more. Next thing you know, it's pointing the finger at someone who made a clumsy pass at someone while drunk, 40 years ago.

I don't know where the common sense path lies here. The truth is that nobody really does, and that's why nobody's even attempted to articulate it. The videos I've seen online all mock the men who dare to ask. "Well if you don't already know the answer, then you're just another Weinstein."

Some things are obviously off limits (grabbing sexually at someone's body, for example) but there are massive grey areas. Is it really harassment to ask someone on a date more than once? Is Katy Perry kissing this guy really a sexual violation?

If he enjoyed being kissed...he wasn't harrassed.

Nope asking consent is not onerous. It is a small quick thing to do that makes sure everyones on the same page and WANTS to be on the same page. If asking for consent "kills the mood" that wasn't a good situation in the first place.

Too many people have turned into overly-sensitive morons.
Another reason I prefer to be alone.