I think that is a very good point and whilst Aaron was of course in the wrong, the others certainly egged him on and a good stern warning to the whole house from BB would probably have done the trick and stopped Aaron from going too far with Joel in the future.

Someone else has probably said this already but if it was a straight man swinging his member around inches away from a lesbian I don't think there would be anyone on here saying how funny they thought it was.

IF he did touch Joel, then it would have been the police I'd have gone to never mind BB.

Why would you do something so stupid ever never mind on TV?

It's not about Joel's reaction, it's about Aaron acting like a sex pest.

It wasn't nice to see and if you found that amusing, then you have a serious problem with boundaries there.

It wasn't though.

And you don't just take any two archetypal characters and throw them together saying if A did this then B would have felt like that.

You have to look at the context of the situation. This is the problem when people are plucking metaphors out of thin air. They're not actual real situations with real people which really occurred.

In the context of the situation, a hyperactive naked gay man was thrusting his penis at a teenage straight man who did not invite the advances.

Do you genuinely believe that's ok?

Exactly.

So you're saying the fact it was two males of different sexualities is okay then in terms of sexual assault?

BIB But it wasn't that was it.
It was a dude doing it to another dude in the context of fun & hijinx.
Everyone was laughing including Joel...
Even Joel's best friends Jack & Nick were egging Aaron on because they thought it was a bit of fun.
Do you think they would have been egging Aaron on if Joel was a girl & Aaron was a straight guy as in your scenario? Of course not !!!

It's all about context.

And the context in which Aaron was doing what he was doing was that he thought it was just a bit of fun accepted by the whole group.... including Joel who was laughing and throwing pillows at him.


Edit - Ooops Alrightmate has beaten me to it

Wouldn't bother me if it was for a laugh and in a situation where I got on well with him.
Whether he is gay or not would make no difference to me.

Would I feel awkward? Yes.
But that's the purpose of a wind-up.

But it wasn't to you, so nobody cares if it bothers you or not - not everyone has the thought process "yes feel free to stick your penis on me, haha!"

Dr G just bloody asked me if I would find it okay.

In terms of sexual assault?
But I don't think it was sexual assault.

Quite how anyone can claim that Joel wasn't uncomfortable and finding it funny is beyond my comprehension.

He was clearly desperately uncomfortable and because everyone else was giggling and goading he didn't know how to handle it. He was pacing around - he even left the room at one point to put deodorant on in the hope that Aaron would give up. It was clear when he threw the cushion that he'd really had enough but didn't know how to stop it.

He is very young - I don't suppose he's ever found himself in a situation like that before and the fact that no one was sticking up for him probably made him think he shouldn't react negatively.

It wasn't funny. It was unacceptable. It was the sort of behaviour that Aaron may engage in with his circle of friends - it was out of place and wrong in the BB house.

Well I suppose it just goes to show we all view situations differently.

If I was on a jury and viewed the footage as evidence of a sexual assault I'd have to find Aaron not guilty.

Maybe Aaron and all the other HMs read Joel's reaction incorrectly but it certainly isn't as black and white some are making out.

I think that's quite a fair post.
But maybe part of the problem is that BB appears to try to aim for an ever younger audience and young viewing audience.
It's maybe time to put housemates in there with a wider age range so that in social situations housemates have the general maturity in the group for at least one of them to prevent things getting out of hand if BB themselves aren't prepared to do it.

This is true, I did! Appreciate your response but can't bring myself to agree. Regardless of context, I think what Aaron did was disgusting and bordering on assault (admittedly with little intent from him. I don't believe he realised what he was doing.)

Sexual assault in court has a very wide definition. My daughter was touched on the bum by a guy at a petrol station - he was drunk and first of all tried to nick her purse, then grabbed/smacked her bum (in broad daylight at a service station). The police had it on CCTV camera and called it "sexual assault". Sadly they never caught him as it wasn't his car that was filling up with petrol

Politics is a cut-throat business. You have to be the kind of person comfortable doing deals with your enemies while knifing your friends.

I agree. The problem seems to me to be more that this sequence of events wasn't nipped in the bud, or that no one could even recognise that there was a situation.
The young immature housemates appeared to fail to see that there was a problem and actually encouraged and goaded the situation.

If BB put housemates in there who are essentially immature kids, then the responsibility is for BB to act as the parent. The onus is on BB to look after the welfare of the housemates. They have a duty of care. Not leave things until the last minute when it may be too late.
If this situation was wrong, then why on earth did BB leave the situation playing out for so long before doing anything?

That's perfectly fine, I appreciate your opinion.
We may have different takes on the situation, but it seems that we agree that Aaron didn't realise what he was doing.
And I do think intent is a very important aspect of this which I think many are overlooking. I certainly respect your opinion because you have actually taken this into account.

Good post.

Whatever. The whiney one has gone now. The crying and twerking are history.
I think Joel could make it to the final.

He looked uncomfortable to me in the bedroom. slight nervous laughter and low mumbling. You could tell he was trying not to over-react and say the wrong thing, but he looked a bit humiliated and was avoiding further humiliation. Joel seems like the sort to try and think his way out of something, even if it's emotional.

there was nothing funny about that situation at all.