Jazmin Ramos

This visual arts piece depicts what women have and continue to go through to the present day. The chosen era is during the 1860's, when the voices of women were not respected nor heard. Elizabeth Cady Stanton is one of the first women to speak on the issue of marital rape, and was passionate enough to be the voice for all women. The image portrays women being imprisoned by their marriage rather than marrying for mutual love and respect. Men created all the laws regarding marriage, which gave men power over their wives, but this was one of the many issues Stanton battled. The quotes on the placard are taken from The Revolution newspaper, written by Stanton during the 1860’s. “Man Marriage" is a point she made to describe that marriage was built upon misogynistic ideologies that ultimately stripped women of their rights as human beings. A man raping his wife was not seen as a crime since men believed it was the duty of his wife to satisfy him whenever he pleased. The efforts by Stanton remain relevant to this day, and helped to change marital rape from being accepted to being a crime.

Sources:

Stanton, E. C. (1869, April 8). "The Man Marriage" and "What Possible Value Would Suffrage Be to Woman?" Revolution. The Revolution, pp. 217–218.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss41210.mss41210-002_00502_00504/?sp=3

Hogan, L. S. (n.d.). Sexual Exploitation in The Rhetoric of Elizabeth Cady Stanton (pp. 40–47).

https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context=conlawnow