I was also very torn when I read this chapter. I agree with the core belief of the movement that a woman should be able to leave her husband if she is unhappy or in danger in her marriage. I applaud the people who fought to make divorce possible for American women.
One of the most poignant stories in this chapter is in the one about a woman whose husband forced her to have sex with him after she experienced injuries in her groin from giving birth. The forced intercourse severely injured her and ripped her stitches from child birth. To me, this is absolutely disgusting and brings up an issue that is still hotly debated today. Is it rape if a woman knows her attacker and has been intimate with him in the past? To me, that answer is yes. "No" means "no." Always. Unfortunately, even now, a woman's sexual past is often deeply scrutinized during rape cases. I find this to be irrelevant.
However, the part of this that really upset me was the actions of Victoria Woodhull. Her promiscuous actions and her using her sex appeal to gain success helps give successful women the same stereotype. Obviously, this is not always the case and it has a negative impact on other women's careers who don't sleep their way to the top.
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