History Main / MaritalRapeLicense

* In the 1993 movie ''What's Love Got to Do With It?'', Ike Turner pulls a type A.

In some old patriarchal systems, a woman belonged first to her father (or closest living male relative if the father was dead) and then to her husband. Once married — and [[ArrangedMarriage in some systems]] she could be married off without her consent to some old man she despised or had never met — her husband had a legal and [[BlueAndOrangeMorality moral]] right to her body whether she liked it or not. It gets even creepier when the "bride" is [[OldManMarryingAChild underage]].

* Type A is when a character or group of characters clearly are guided by this kind of morality, but this is not portrayed in a positive light. On the contrary, it is used to define them as villainous or at least severely flawed. In contemporary works, this Type A is the standard form of the trope.
* Type B is when the narrative itself buys into the morality: It is portrayed as if the woman had it coming for denying her husband his marital rights. However, she still doesn't enjoy it: If the wife seem to be happy with the forceful sex, then it's [[ItsNotRapeIfYouEnjoyedIt an entirely different trope]], and [[CasualKink yet another trope]] if they had agreed on it rather than her being okay with it retroactively. This Type B of the trope typically only comes up in older works.

All examples of this trope can be safely assumed to be Type A unless otherwise noted. The trope could as well have been named "Some Jerkass Believes That Rape Is Okay If You Are Married", if that title hadn't been so long.

Only a few decades ago, it was legal for a man to rape his wife. Sweden criminalized it in 1965 (in the USA it has been illegal in all states since 1993), and 53 countries around the world still don't consider it a crime[[hottip:*:Afghanistan, at least, has it more or less legal both ways - a man has a right to his wife every three days or so, while a woman has a right to her husband once a month]].

Only a few decades ago, it was legal for a man to rape his wife. Sweden criminalized it in 1965 (in USA it has been illegal in all states since 1993), and 53 countries around the world still don't consider it a crime[[hottip:*:Afghanistan, at least, has it more or less legal both ways - a man has a right to his wife every three days or so, while a woman has a right to her husband once a month]].

* Type B is when the narrative itself buys into the morality: It is portrayed as if the woman had it coming for denying her husband his martial rights. However, she still doesn't enjoy it: If the wife seem to be happy with the forceful sex, then it's [[ItsNotRapeIfYouEnjoyedIt an entirely different trope]], and [[CasualKink yet another trope]] if they had agreed on it rather than her being okay with it retroactively. This Type B of the trope typically only comes up in older works.

Statutory rape is not automatically included in this trope: OldManMarryingAChild overlaps with this trope ''if and only if'' the marriage is consummated ''and'' the girl is indicated to be traumatized or unwilling. This distinction is included because some people [[MoralGuardians feel very offended]] when the marriages of [[PedophiliaIsOkayIfYouAreMuhammed historical persons]] get judged by contemporary standards and thus summarily defined as rape. No Real Life examples, please: Include only media examples, and stick to how the relationship is portrayed in that particular work.

Statutory rape is not automatically included in this trope: OldManMarryingAChild overlaps with this trope ''if and only if'' the marriage is consummated ''and'' the girl is indicated to be traumatized or unwilling. This distinction is included because some people [[MoralGuardians feel very offended]] when the marriages of historical persons get judged by contemporary standards and thus summarily defined as rape. No Real Life examples, please: Include only media examples, and stick to how the relationship is portrayed in that particular work.

* Type B is when the narrative itself buys into the morality: It is portrayed as if the woman had it coming for denying her husband his martial rights. However, she still doesn't enjoy it: If the wife seem to be happy with the forceful sex, then it's [[ItsNotRapeIfYouEnjoyedIt an entirely different trope]], and [[CasualKink yet another trope]] if they had agreed on it rather then her being okay with it retroactively. This Type B of the trope typically only comes up in older works.

->Her smile vanishes when she looks into his eyes\\

->Her smile vanish when she looks into his eyes\\

* In ''Collar6'' this turns out to be the norm in [[spoiler:Laura's]] homeland in the Puritan Territories, and it's stated that [[http://collar6.com/2011/collar-6-211 men get to have their way with the woman of their choice in the hopes of conceiving a male]] because of a severe gender imbalance, and [[spoiler:Laura's]] father had a harem of sixty three women. This is contrasted with the consensual BDSM of the main setting.

** One quote that didn't make it into FSTDT, and this one is from a woman: ''"I disagree with the bill because I disagree that a man can rape his wife. The Bible tells me that a man’s body is his wife’s and her body is his. How could he rape her?"''

Only a few decades ago, it was legal for a man to rape his wife. Sweden criminalized it in 1965 (in USA it has been illegal in all states since 1993), and 53 countries around the world still don't consider it a crime.

Compare NoWomansLand.

In some old patriarchal systems, a woman belonged first to her father (or closest living male relative if the father was dead) and then to her husband. Once married — and [[ArrangedMarriage in some systems]] she could be married off without her consent to some old man she despised or had never met — her husband had a legal and [[BlueAndOrangeMorality moral]] right to her body whether she liked it or not. It gets even creepier when the "bride" is underage.

In some old patriarchal systems, a woman belonged first to her father and then to her husband. Once married — and [[ArrangedMarriage in some systems]] she could be married off without her consent to some old man she despised or had never met — her husband had a legal and [[BlueAndOrangeMorality moral]] right to her body whether she liked it or not. It gets even creepier when the "bride" is underage.