The concept of rape being possible between people who are married is new to Abrahamic and Greco-Roman culture. Historically, rape is a crime against a patriarch a woman belongs to. It being possible to rape one’s wife or slaves was considered nonsense in the western world until quite recently.
And while raping women that belonged to enemies was recognized as such, it was generally considered a good thing, such as the Rape of Sabine Virgins, the Iliad (Achilles is mad because Menelaos is selfish about the rape loot table), Viking raids, etc.
There is no time in Mediterranean/European written history where the majority position is that physically abusing your wife until she has sex with you is bad until the 20th century.
Even the Rape of the Sabine Virgins and similar were seen as wrong as early as the Roman Republic. But it is certainly insane to claim that rape was not considered a crime at all. In most cases it was, unless you raped your wife.
Yeah it’s not so much that rape was not considered wrong, but that they had different conceptions of consent than we do now.
When you drive a vehicle, in most states, you consent automatically to having your blood taken by police officers. In most states, you can literally have your blood taken from you against your will. But because you agreed to have a driver’s license, according to most states, you’ve legally consented to this violation of your body.
Rape is obviously a whole different level of violation, but marital rape historically worked the exact same way we treat drunk driving blood draws today. When a woman was married, legally she was consenting to any future sexual activity her husband desired. She couldn’t withdraw her consent after. Her consent was implied through the act of marriage.
The concept of rape being possible between people who are married is new to Abrahamic and Greco-Roman culture. Historically, rape is a crime against a patriarch a woman belongs to. It being possible to rape one’s wife or slaves was considered nonsense in the western world until quite recently.
And while raping women that belonged to enemies was recognized as such, it was generally considered a good thing, such as the Rape of Sabine Virgins, the Iliad (Achilles is mad because Menelaos is selfish about the rape loot table), Viking raids, etc.
There is no time in Mediterranean/European written history where the majority position is that physically abusing your wife until she has sex with you is bad until the 20th century.
Even the Rape of the Sabine Virgins and similar were seen as wrong as early as the Roman Republic. But it is certainly insane to claim that rape was not considered a crime at all. In most cases it was, unless you raped your wife.
Yeah it’s not so much that rape was not considered wrong, but that they had different conceptions of consent than we do now.
When you drive a vehicle, in most states, you consent automatically to having your blood taken by police officers. In most states, you can literally have your blood taken from you against your will. But because you agreed to have a driver’s license, according to most states, you’ve legally consented to this violation of your body.
Rape is obviously a whole different level of violation, but marital rape historically worked the exact same way we treat drunk driving blood draws today. When a woman was married, legally she was consenting to any future sexual activity her husband desired. She couldn’t withdraw her consent after. Her consent was implied through the act of marriage.