When I Say Yes

How should we talk about desire, power and equality in the wake of the #Me Too debate?

For Carolin Emcke, bestselling author and winner of the German Peace Prize, the debate demonstrates one thing above all: a conversation about abuse and sexuality has emerged that can no longer be stifled. Too many questions remain unanswered: which images and concepts shape our imaginings of desire and revulsion? How is violence exposed and obstructed? How do the norms and structures into which men, women and those in between must fit get constructed?  What gets hushed up, and who remains powerless?  How can the plurality of desire and sexuality be expressed, without sacrificing their intricacies?

By interrogating her own experiences as well as social practices, music and literature, Emcke demonstrates the enduring complexity of the relationship between sexuality and truth.

Carolin Emcke is a prominent journalist, activist and scholar and the author of Against Hate. Her contribution to public life has been recognized with many awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Publishers’ Association, Germany’s most prestigious literary award.