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[quote=Anonymous]I think we can all agree that it's abhorrent (and rape) to have unwanted sexual contact with another person who is passed/passing out, too drunk to stand, vomiting etc.  Those are crystal clear indicators of extreme intoxication, that even another drunk party can and should notice.

However, there is a gray area to this debate, that I don't see as quite so crystal clear.  Let's say that a guy and a girl are both blacked out drunk...in this case, not passed out or vomiting or falling over, but too drunk to remember all their actions/conversations/songs they danced too etc.  And before jumping all over me and talking about how ridiculous or crazy this notion is (albeit, very irresponsible), as someone who graduated college in the last decade, I will tell you that "blacking out" or "let's get black out" is an extremely common idea/goal whatever in college culture these days...even a source of pride.  It's very irresponsible, but many college kids view this as the norm.   "BOMO" (black out make out) is a common phrase tossed around between friends.  This is definitely a huge part of the problem, but we can't ignore reality when discussing this issue.

But for this, let's use the scenario I described above: two parties that are equally very drunk and inhibited, but neither overtly passed out, vomiting, etc.  So let's say these two start getting very hot and heavy and they go to bed.  The guy/girl asks the girl/guy if she/he would like to have sex, and she/he says yes at the time...nothing forceful, no holding down against her/his will.   The next morning the girl/guy wakes up and feels embarrassed/ashamed/regretful for whatever reason.  This person did consent at the time, but doesn't remember doing so.

Is this rape?  If so, how is it determined which party is "guiltier" than the other? What are the delineating characteristics of rape (and guilt) in this scenario?  Does "not remembering consenting" equal "not consenting", when both parties are the same level of drunk?

You could take this scenario even further...let's say everything leading up is the same as above, but one party (A) is verbally insistent that the other party (B) has sex with them.  Not only consenting but encouraging.  And then in the morning, party A is embarrassed/ashamed/regretful of their actions.  Does the inebriation of party A absolve them of the fact that they were verbally insistent to party B to have sex?  Maybe the answer is yes, but these are areas where it can be gray in my opinion.

Once again, I feel the need to have a disclaimer that I'm against rape, I don't rape people, it's sickening etc.  And I personally believe that someone capable of having forcibly having sex with another person, or having sex with someone who is passed out, vomitting, etc. are wired with evil.  But at the same time, these scenarios mentioned above can and do happen...and I don't think it's quite as clear as some like to think.[/quote]

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