A women's study student once told me that marriage was just the legalized rape of a woman?

Question

Would you agree with that? Why or why not?

Answer 1

No, I wouldn't believe that. That line is the work of extremist feminists who can't even really be called feminists. I don't want to get married, but not because I think it's "legalized rape." I just plain don't want it.

Answer 2

No I don't agree with that because marriage was created to protect the women and to provide for orphans. I don't think there is any rape between a husband and a wife because they are married so there's no way to determine if it was forceful or not. I think that marriage is a good thing for women and men because it prevents men and women from cheating on each other. It's not the legalized rape of a woman. Maybe that woman's study student was a person who doesn't think women need to be married or have families.

Answer 3

Until 1993, it was legal to rape your wife in NC. In some countries, it's also legal to rape your wife as well. So, the women's study student was technically correct, that marriage can be used to legally rape a woman in the past in the US, and in the present in other countries. In some countries, a girl or woman doesn't have a choice to marry, and is forced to marry, so if she doesn't want to have sex with her "husband", that too could/does degenerate into legalized rape as well.

Also, in the US, when some women leave abusive husbands, in addition to being battered, woman are also raped by their husbands as "punishment" for leaving them. Prosecuting rape against husbands is not exactly on the top of the list for many jurisdictions.

Answer 4

Depends in the marriage. In Western cultures it is assumed that sex in a marriage is a consented act, although there are cases of women being raped by their husbands or significant other.

In some other countries, especially among the poor population, many women have no voice or can't even express their needs. In some of these cases, rape by their husband or some other male from the same family, unfortunately is more common

Answer 5

If they were really a student they probably said "legalized prostitution".

There is this theory, yes.

One could argue that.

In times and societies in which a woman's economic survival cannot be provided by herself through work or passive income, they depend on a male to support them.
If on top of that, or as a result, they are not free to choose a male according to their personal taste or because they love him, they are effectively ensuring their finances by marriage.

In that situation: marriage= he gives money and status
she gives sex and children

Which is prostitution.

Answer 6

That's just one of the daft thing some students say ... she was probably a first year, right? Either her course was teaching some stupid things, or she didn't understand what she was taught.

I did actually do a women's studies course that encouraged that sort of ridiculous thinking (or non-thinking), but then I switched to a saner university.

Answer 7

No, I don't agree. That's a generalization, and generalizations aren't good. Some marriages are bad, abusive, etc... Some are really good, loving, sharing.

Answer 8

i wouldn't agree. women choose to get married, so it's not against their will.

related to that, rape used to be legal within a marriage. it wasn't until 1993 that all 50 states made it a crime.

Answer 9

I know some people that would believe that... And yes marriage is domination by men over women, but I wouldn't necessarily call it that. It's certainly harder to prove rape if you're married though, maybe that's where she was thinking from.

Answer 10

Sounds like this student has some real issues. Rape is forced sex.