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  • Essay / Feminist theory of marital rape - 1369

    Feminist theory considers marital rape as social control of women by men through the patriarchal family (#1). This is also seen through patriarchal terrorism which "refers to the methodical use of violence by men in an endless effort to control women", and the idea that a marriage license is in some sense a “license to rape” because men can dominate. their wives without fear of reprisal (#1). Social constructionism proclaims that marital rape is the result of men attempting to maintain power in society, themselves, and what they claim to be their property (#1). This idea claims that marital rape is “shaped by the self-interest of those with power in society” (#1). Gender role socialization theorists believe that marital rape and the minimization of the effects of martial rape are caused by gender roles that are taught to children from a young age (#1). As they grow up, “men learn to be dominant, powerful, and sexually aggressive,” but women “learn to be passive [and] submissive” (#1). Women are also taught to be guardians of sexuality, with "the idea that once a woman has consented" to sex, she cannot go back, and to be a good wife, which which involves fulfilling “the wife’s duty to sexually please her husband” (#1). It is difficult to say which theory correctly explains why marital rape was accepted for so long, any of the three may be correct or a combination of all three could be.