“Marital rape was a term that was viewed by the law as an oxymoron until shamefully late in U.S. history. Until the 1970s, the rape laws in every state in the union included an exception if the rapist and the victim were husband and wife. In 1993, all 50 states had finally eliminated the “marital rape exception.” But the effects of these archaic exceptions persist and interfere with spousal rape prosecutions in some states.” (Deborah C. England)
“Ten to 14 percent of all married women and at least 40 percent of battered wives in the United States have been raped by their husbands.”
What is the punishment(s) for marital rape?
“Today, marital rape is illegal in all 50 US states, though the details of the offense vary by state.”
“The earlier laws of the 1970s often required the husband and wife to no longer be living together for marital rape charges to be brought.”
What is rape culture?
“Rape culture is a sociological concept for a setting in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim-blaming, slut-shaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by sexual violence, or some combination of these.”
“Rape—any non-consensual sexual intercourse— between non-spouses has always been illegal. However, until 1975, every state had a “marital exemption” that allowed a husband to rape his wife without fear of legal consequences.” (Monica Steiner)
“A female slave has (in Christian countries) an admitted right, and is considered under a moral obligation to refuse her master the last familiarity. Not so the wife: however brutal a tyrant she may unfortunately be chained to- though she may know that he hates her, though it may be his daily pleasure to torture her, and though she may feel it impossible not to loathe him- he can claim from her and enforce the lowest degradation of a human being, that of being made the instrument of an animal function contrary to her inclinations.” (On the Subjection of Women John Stuart Mill)
What is the definition of rape?
“The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”
What is the first case of marital rape?
“The case in the United States that first challenged this cohabitation clause was Oregon v. Rideout in 1978. In the case, the husband was accused of raping his wife, the first man in the United States to be charged with raping his wife while they were still living together.”
Works Cited
Campbell, Jacquelyn C, and Peggy Alford. “The Dark Consequences of Marital Rape.” JSTOR, July 1989, www.jstor.org/stable/3426372?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents. England, Deborah C. “The History of Marital Rape Laws.” Www.criminaldefenselawyer.com, Nolo, 27 Mar. 2015, www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/crime-penalties/marital-rape.htm.
Griffin, Moira K. “In 44 States, It's Legal to Rape Your Wife.” HeinOnline, 1960, heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fstudlyr9&div=7&id=&page=. “Rape Culture.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_culture.
“Marital Rape in the United States.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marital_rape_in_the_United_States.
Sullivan, Katharine T., and Laura L. Rogers. “An Updated Definition of Rape.” The United States Department of Justice, 7 Apr. 2017, www.justice.gov/archives/opa/blog/updated-definition-rape.
Cover Letter
I remember one of my mom’s best friends coming into our house, broken down into a heap of defeated sobs, telling us that her husband had started to rape her. At that point, it had been some time since he had first started, and she had been too ashamed and scared to tell anyone. I will never be able to describe the heartache that goes along with watching someone who might as well be your family be reduced to near nothing by someone she is supposed to trust. Someone who is vowed to love and protect her. Nothing about it is even remotely fair or right in any sense. People use a ring on a finger and a title as an excuse to rob someone of their right to say no. Some have refused to even acknowledge this defilement as rape for those reasons alone. “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” (Justice.gov), says otherwise. I could go into the saying that should be common sense, of “no means no”, but that has sadly been proven to be nothing more than idle words that go in one ear and out the other. Words and vows have sadly been shown to be quite useless in these cases. “...however brutal a tyrant she may be unfortunately chained to- though she may know that he hates her, though it may be his daily pleasure to torture her, and though she may feel it impossible not to loathe him- he can claim from her and enforce the lowest degradation of a human being made the instrument of an animal function contrary to her inclinations.” (John Stuart Mill) Many women who have come forward with their struggles about this issue have either implied or flat out admitted that they believe their husband has some sort of control or ownership of them, meaning they can do nothing but accept their fate. I believe we need to empower women now who have suffered brutality to speak up and act for themselves. People are not made to be owned by others, especially when that results in violence that leads to someone doubting their freedom. If we start to act now in supporting them, then what will come in the future? There will be resources for women to go to so that they don’t have to endure this on their own. There needs to be an outlet, somewhere safe for these women to go where there can be no fear of conviction or more violence and brutality. Something has to change, and soon.
Approach Analysis (The Pastor's Wife)
STEP 1: My Chosen Approach:
Generally: Taking a look at marital rape through the lens of a movie based on a true story.
Specific: The movie The Pastor's Wife released in the ripe year of 2011 and was based on the true story of the Winkler family and the events that lead to the death of Matthew Winkler by the determined hands of his wife Mary.
STEP 2: Research:
Who?
The wife: Mary Winkler
The husband/pastor: Matthew Winkler
Three daughters (aged 8, 6, and 1)
What?
Wife, Mary, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter of husband Matthew.
When?
Confessed March 22, 2006
Where?
Selmer, Tennessee
Why?
It was said by Mary that Matthew had over the course of years, he had been physically and emotionally abusive, had threatened to kill her, had made her dress up like a hooker before nonconsensual sex, forced her to watch pornography and imitate actions done in the videos, and had tried to suffocate their daughter with a pillow because she was crying.
How?
Mary shot Matthew in the back with a shot gun while he was asleep.
STEP 3: My Analysis:
What I love:
I love that it was based on a true story. I think that that added a lot of realness for people, and allowed them to take it a bit more seriously than they maybe would have previously.
I think it was a very creative way to see marital rape and the affects without feeling the full impact of it. I feel we as people can shut down when things get to be too much, and I believe that showing it in the form of a movie allowed to people feel just enough about the subject while creating a space to think and reflect afterward.
Limitations:
I think that it could be said that she was in the wrong to shoot him, accident or not, and that maybe making it into a movie romanticized the idea of murder in the name of self-defense.
They cannot get much more perspective of the husband, and therefore are inadvertently bias towards Mary.
My Immodest Proposal
Proposal Summary: I am proposing that there be a support group for the victims of marital rape where they can talk about it, and can plan and assist each other in the downfall of their perpetrators.
Audience: My audience will be the victims of this horrendous crime.
My Proposal Essay: They say that revenge is the best medicine, and I could not agree more in this case. And what better way to get revenge than to do it with others who have suffered comparable atrocities alongside you. I propose there to be a support group for the victims of marital rape, where they can gather, obviously including food and beverages (preferably of the alcoholic type), and share their stories, offer a foothold in this climb to survive and to strategize and provide aid in the destruction of their once beloved. I believe this will instill a sense of family and community.
Reflection
To what extent did I choose an issue that I genuinely care about? I chose a topic that I genuinely care about to the greatest extent. There have been two people in my life who I have been very close to who have suffered through this, and I have personally seen the effect it has on people, even years and years after. I have gotten to see both sides, one where the woman stood up for herself and removed herself from that life, and one where she lived in fear and waited for another opportunity to leave. It instills fear in people, and there is absolutely no closure when there is no justice. What did I learn from this process that will help me with my senior project? During this project, I learned better time management and how to set attainable and reasonable goals for myself. I got to strengthen my skill in connecting myself to the project, and therefore make it more meaningful to me and hopefully other people. I think I can take this to my senior project and apply it to make my senior project mean so much more than another thing I have to get through. I can make it to where I enjoy what I’m learning about and something that I can be passionate about.
What was the most valuable/informative/interesting part of this assignment? I think that the most valuable part of this project was the cover letter. I think that was an excellent outlet for us to apply ourselves and what we learned in background research, and turn it into something that allows people to glimpse into why we did it and what we did. It was very hard and emotional to write, but that just made me all the more proud. I also think that our proposal was really interesting to write. We had to take what we had learned and turn it into something that could potentially be used. In my case, I hope it isn’t used.
What is one thing Ashley could have done to improve this project the most? OR What is one thing YOU could have done to improve your own work? I think that I could have taken more time on the different parts of the project. Ashley gave us a lot of time to work on each part, and I could have used that time to do my best work instead of the minimal. I will say that I would next year spread out the time. For example, we had part 3 and 4 due at the same time when I felt like we didn’t need as much time as we got to research.