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Sarah Jensen's Reviews > Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime
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Book Review: Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman
Rating: 5/5
A Sociological and Public Health Landmark
Sarah Weinman’s Without Consent is a seminal work of feminist legal history and public health scholarship, meticulously reconstructing the 1978 Oregon v. Rideout trial—the first major spousal rape case in U.S. history—and its reverberations through decades of activism. Weinman, acclaimed for her masterpieces of true crime (Scoundrel, The Real Lolita), here transcends genre to deliver a serious social history that exposes how legal systems institutionalized misogyny by exempting marital rape from prosecution until as late as 1993. Her archival rigor and interviews with survivors, including Greta Rideout herself, reveal the intersection of gender-based violence, public health crises, and legislative inertia.
Emotional Resonance and Personal Reflections
Reading Without Consent felt like witnessing a tectonic shift in slow motion. Weinman’s account of Greta Rideout’s vilification—lambasted for daring to accuse her husband, John, while he was acquitted and later reoffended—triggered visceral outrage. The courtroom scenes, where defense attorneys framed rape as the risk of being married, mirrored contemporary debates about bodily autonomy post-Roe. As a public health practitioner, I was struck by Weinman’s unflinching analysis of how delayed legal recognition of marital rape compounded trauma, fostering cycles of abuse with measurable health impacts (e.g., PTSD, chronic pain). Yet, the book’s most profound moments came in quieter passages: feminist activists’ state-by-state battles, often waged alongside survivors, revealed the grit required to dismantle systemic oppression.
Constructive Criticism
- Structural Intersectionality: While Weinman centers white middle-class experiences (Rideout’s case), deeper engagement with how race and class shaped access to justice—e.g., Black women’s historical exclusion from marital privilege legal defenses—would strengthen the analysis.
- Public Health Data: The book’s sociological lens is impeccable, but incorporating longitudinal studies on spousal rape’s health outcomes (e.g., CDC reports on intimate partner violence) could amplify its policy relevance.
- Contemporary Parallels: Though Weinman nods to post-Roe backlash, explicit ties to current reproductive coercion cases (e.g., abortion bans as bodily autonomy violations) would sharpen the call to action.
Summary Takeaways:
- The Silent Spring of gender-based violence—a watershed exposé of how laws weaponized marriage.
- Weinman doesn’t just document history; she holds a mirror to America’s ongoing war on women’s bodies.
- For readers of She Said and Invisible Women: A forensic reckoning with rape culture’s legal roots.
- Greta Rideout’s name belongs beside Anita Hill’s in the canon of feminist courage.
- A public health imperative wrapped in a legal thriller—unputdownable and unforgettable.
Gratitude
Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for the advance copy. Weinman’s important and impressive work is a clarion call for scholars and activists alike.
Final Verdict: A flawless fusion of narrative journalism and sociological critique, essential for understanding how law, health, and gender intersect.
Why Read It? To confront Weinman’s implicit challenge: When rights are pendulums, not foundations, who pays the price?
Rating: 5/5
A Sociological and Public Health Landmark
Sarah Weinman’s Without Consent is a seminal work of feminist legal history and public health scholarship, meticulously reconstructing the 1978 Oregon v. Rideout trial—the first major spousal rape case in U.S. history—and its reverberations through decades of activism. Weinman, acclaimed for her masterpieces of true crime (Scoundrel, The Real Lolita), here transcends genre to deliver a serious social history that exposes how legal systems institutionalized misogyny by exempting marital rape from prosecution until as late as 1993. Her archival rigor and interviews with survivors, including Greta Rideout herself, reveal the intersection of gender-based violence, public health crises, and legislative inertia.
Emotional Resonance and Personal Reflections
Reading Without Consent felt like witnessing a tectonic shift in slow motion. Weinman’s account of Greta Rideout’s vilification—lambasted for daring to accuse her husband, John, while he was acquitted and later reoffended—triggered visceral outrage. The courtroom scenes, where defense attorneys framed rape as the risk of being married, mirrored contemporary debates about bodily autonomy post-Roe. As a public health practitioner, I was struck by Weinman’s unflinching analysis of how delayed legal recognition of marital rape compounded trauma, fostering cycles of abuse with measurable health impacts (e.g., PTSD, chronic pain). Yet, the book’s most profound moments came in quieter passages: feminist activists’ state-by-state battles, often waged alongside survivors, revealed the grit required to dismantle systemic oppression.
Constructive Criticism
- Structural Intersectionality: While Weinman centers white middle-class experiences (Rideout’s case), deeper engagement with how race and class shaped access to justice—e.g., Black women’s historical exclusion from marital privilege legal defenses—would strengthen the analysis.
- Public Health Data: The book’s sociological lens is impeccable, but incorporating longitudinal studies on spousal rape’s health outcomes (e.g., CDC reports on intimate partner violence) could amplify its policy relevance.
- Contemporary Parallels: Though Weinman nods to post-Roe backlash, explicit ties to current reproductive coercion cases (e.g., abortion bans as bodily autonomy violations) would sharpen the call to action.
Summary Takeaways:
- The Silent Spring of gender-based violence—a watershed exposé of how laws weaponized marriage.
- Weinman doesn’t just document history; she holds a mirror to America’s ongoing war on women’s bodies.
- For readers of She Said and Invisible Women: A forensic reckoning with rape culture’s legal roots.
- Greta Rideout’s name belongs beside Anita Hill’s in the canon of feminist courage.
- A public health imperative wrapped in a legal thriller—unputdownable and unforgettable.
Gratitude
Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for the advance copy. Weinman’s important and impressive work is a clarion call for scholars and activists alike.
Final Verdict: A flawless fusion of narrative journalism and sociological critique, essential for understanding how law, health, and gender intersect.
Why Read It? To confront Weinman’s implicit challenge: When rights are pendulums, not foundations, who pays the price?
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
June 24, 2025
– Shelved
