Bridgerton Season 3: Colin, Penelope, a Mirror and matters of consent

Last year I wrote a post about the problem with consent in the Bridgerton Universe, looking at the issue of marital rape within season 1 and Queen Charlotte, in comparison to that of the explicit consent from Kate in season 2.  With the release of season 3 I was interested to see if Bridgerton had improved with the issue of consent, however, despite a form of consent being present between Colin and Penelope I do believe it remains slightly problematic.  

Image Credit: Netflix

In season 2 we saw explicit consent between Anthony and Kate, with Anthony saying "I will stop" and Kate responding "Do not stop", this was clear consent, and what is sometimes referred to as affirmative consent.  In this scene we see Anthony give the power to continue - or not - to Kate, she is the one to make the decision to continue and it is verbalised clearly.  This was not scripted, and was in fact an addition by the actors themselves, but the message it sent was a powerful one, putting Kate in the position of power it communicated that women (or the more vulnerable person) should be the ones to say yes.  This fit in well with the scene which was focused completely on Kate, the consent and the scene that followed, made it clear that Anthony's only concern in the encounter was Kate's desires and her pleasure.  

Image Credit: Netflix

In season 3 there is consent however it is not as affirmative consent, nor does it centre the power of the decision making on Penelope to the same degree.  In the sex scene in episode 5, (referred to as the mirror scene), we do see Penelope give consent, but it is not affirmative consent, and Colin does not give her the power to say yes, but rather puts the onus of stopping on Penelope. Colin says to Penelope "You must tell me to stop if you do not wish for this" Penelope responds that she does not wish for him to stop. In this exchange the power lies with Colin, it is up to Penelope to stop the intimacy from progressing, Colin has not stood back to give her the chance to say yes. Compare this with Kate and Anthony in season 2 where Anthony stopped and stepped back, it was Kate that then initiated more and made the decision to continue. This is subtle, but it shows a difference in the power dynamics between the couples, Colin takes the power from Penelope not giving her the opportunity to give permission but rather making her have to say no, whilst Anthony gives the power to Kate by making it so she has to give permission. Whilst the writers obviously tried to get around the issue in the season 3 scene by having Penelope say she does not wish for Colin to stop, it does little to cover the blunder they made in the first instance with how the consent issue was initially framed. 

It can be argued that this is fiction and the nuances in the consent between the characters is not something to worry about as long as consent is present, however, I would argue that due to the influence of media on society there is a responsibility on the part of the show runner and writers to ensure that issues of consent are handled in a positive and affirming way, giving the power of saying yes to the vulnerable party, and not putting the onus of stopping on them. 

In saying all of this, having this consent scripted, as opposed to the actors adding it in of their own accord, is a small step in the right direction for the writers of Bridgerton. If they truly want to have the show be about empowering women then the writers must start with giving the women in the show power, and in this scene with Colin and Penelope I don't think they did that.