Melissa Gorga of The Real Housewives of New Jersey has followed in the footsteps of several other Housewives by writing a book titled Love Italian Style: The Secrets of My Hot and Happy Marriage. Suddenly, googling Gorga’s name yields the term “marital rape” on several blogs and news sites–hardly the response she was probably going for.
The excerpt from the book causing the controversy, written by Gorga’s husband Joe, reads as follows:
Men, I know you think your woman isn’t the type who wants to be taken. But trust me, she is. Every girl wants to get her hair pulled once in a while. If your wife says “no,” turn her around, and rip her clothes off. She wants to be dominated.
Women don’t realize how easy men are. Just give us what we want.
It seems as though perhaps the Gorgas read 50 Shades of Grey as if it were an instruction manual.
Tracie Egan Morrissey of the feminist blog Jezebel writes that this passage advocates “marital rape”–a term which has hit the headlines and brought up discussion on several other blogs and celebrity news sites. For a good time, just read some of the many 1-star reviews of the book on Amazon.
Whether you think the term “marital rape” is accurate or excessive, it is obvious from the book that Gorga goes to ridiculous lengths to please her husband. She instructs women to have sex with their husbands even when they are tired or not in the mood; always be home when the husband gets home and have dinner on the table; wear makeup, shave and dress seductively every single day; spend less time with single friends; and even avoid having bowel movements when the husband is around and instead do it at the nearest public bathroom. Yes, really. Just read the excerpts.
Gorga responded to the accusations, although not very substantively. She tweeted:
I’m so disgusted that a reporter has taken things completely out of context simply for shock value. #SAD
— Melissa Gorga (@melissagorga) September 25, 2013
For probably the first time in my life, I find myself agreeing with a feminist blog.
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