‘Mandatory’ Hozier responds to criticism over tweets on consent
Discussions on rape, sexual harassment and consent have been more prominent than ever in recent weeks, as case after high profile case is exposed in Hollywood and the music industry.
Yesterday, Hozier gave his two cents on the manner.
Taking to Twitter, the singer penned a poignant tweet t in favour of consent.
The Take Me To Church musician framed his tweet in a manner intended to address the commonplace (and incorrect) argument that consent is a grey area, and that articulating consent between adults can ruin the mood.
'Consent is sexy. Lads, if you're not convinced that consent, audible consent -something uttered, something whispered, something called for loudly- is sexy, then chaps I'm afraid you may not be doing this right,' he tweeted.
'Be well.'
Consent is sexy. Lads, if you're not convinced that consent, audible consent -something uttered, something whispered, something called for loudly- is sexy, then chaps I'm afraid you may not be doing this right. Be well.
— Hozier (@Hozier) November 10, 2017
He then followed this with: 'Before I get butchered for using this language, of course it is first and foremost *mandatory*.'
'I'm more addressing a commonly found aversion to "ruining the mood" by discussing sex before an act of sex, which is frankly, nonsense.'
Many people applauded the singer for making a positive contribution to the discussion surrounding sexual violence, and for using his platform to publicise an important issue.
However, others criticised the singer for framing his comment in such a way.
Simply put folks, that was a poorly worded tweet. I had seen something that annoyed me re people talking about, voicing, asking etc and provided absolutely no context at all in what I thought was an irreverent jibe aimed at lads. Language matters and framing it that way was silly
— Hozier (@Hozier) November 11, 2017
'I understand the sentiment but framing consent as sexy isn’t necessarily sending the right message,' tweeted one.
'Consent isn’t sexy, it is wholly and absolutely necessary.'
In response, Hozier, aka Andrew Byrne, tweeted once more.
'That was a poorly worded tweet. I had seen something that annoyed me re people talking about, voicing, asking etc and provided absolutely no context at all in what I thought was an irreverent jibe aimed at lads. Language matters and framing it that way was silly,' he said.
Fans rushed to his defence, saying 'you're an ally dude. We all see that.'
'If what you said offended somebody then you must be doing something right lol – people on this site at this time are so vitriolic anyway,' said another.
