A book advising newly-wed women on how to be "submissive" has become a publishing phenomenon in Spain while outraging feminists who have called for it to be banned.
The polemic book by married Italian author Costanza Miriano titled 'Cásate y sé sumisa – Get Married and Be Submissive – was published by the Catholic Arbishopric of the southern city of Granada in November and soared up the bestseller list.
Costanza Miriano
The book, which was a bestseller in Italy, preaches a message of "loyal obedience, generosity and submission" on the part of the new wife and offers nuggets of advice for the newly-wed on how to please one's husband.
The book currently appears at number 15 on the Amazon bestseller list in Spain but has raised the hackles of modern-minded Senoras who even staged a public demonstration against the tome, where they tore up copies.
Women's groups are considering legal action to get it banned arguing that it promotes gender violence.
One passage suggests: "We [women] like humiliation because it is for a greater good."
The author claims the book is based on the teachings of St Paul and that a perfect wife should be submissive.
"It's true, you're not yet an experienced cook or a perfect housewife," she writes. "What's the problem if he tells you so? Tell him that he is right, that it's true, that you will learn. On seeing your sweetness and your humility, your effort to change, this will also change him.
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Granada's Archbishop Francisco Javier Martinez, who chose to publish the book has defended its content and insists that the furore surrounding it is "ridiculous and hypocritical" in a society that allows abortion, which he argues is a much clearer example of violence against women.
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