WITHOUT CONSENT

Journalistic study of the legal battle to criminalize marital rape.

As late as 1974, writes Weinman, “it was perfectly legal for a man to rape his wife, because the very concept of marital rape seemed unfathomable” with wives considered property in the spirit if not the letter of the law. That was until the case of Greta Rideout reached a court in Oregon. She had reported to the police that her husband had raped her—and moreover, beaten her in the presence of their 2-year-old daughter. Greta’s case prompted a wave of legislative reforms, such that by 1993, as Weinman chronicles, “marital rape was a crime in every state.” As the author goes on to recount, Rideout’s husband had all the psychological hallmarks of an abuser, abused himself in childhood, forever promising to change his ways but never doing so. While remaining closely focused on the Rideout case, Weinman’s discussion is wide-ranging: She reports on statistical surveys indicating that as many as one in eight married women had been sexually assaulted by their husbands, though the word “rape” elicited far fewer numbers, as if the victims were reluctant to apply it to their experience. (A later study revised the figure slightly upward to 14%.) The Rideouts themselves provided fodder for commentary, much of it in the sexist framing of the period, with one calling the working-class couple “terminally stupid” and adding that “Greta had sensational legs and spent most of her time shaving them in the bathtub,” while another railed against “women who dress inappropriately, flaunt their right to be comfortable at the expense of the comfort of others.” The blaming-the-victim trope remained a constant, even as John Rideout, divorced from Greta, proved a repeat offender and was imprisoned for his crimes.

A well-argued work of legal journalism that shines light on the darkest corners of married life.