Call me naive but would a woman really sleep with a man she abhors just to gain domination over him? It seems like it is hard enough for normal people to get together (aka nice people) why would she sleep with a guy she hates who is more than twice her age simply to prove him wrong and break him?
shareOf COURSE she would. It's not exactly difficult for people who look like Kate Winslet when she was 24 to seduce him, biologically speaking she doesn't need to be attracted to him to have sex with him and she is highly motivated to prove him wrong and break him, so she can go back to her cult.
Plenty of women aren't really interested in sex and simply use it as a weapon to get what they want, especially women who are as heartless and self-absorbed as Ruth. (And before you jump on my nuts for being a misogynist, remember that the film painted her as heartless and self-absorbed, not me).
So apparently even consensual sex can cause some kind of harm and lead to devastating consequences and be used to manipulate, right?
The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!
Well sure. I don't think there's anything particularly controversial about that. How many arguments about consensual sex break down "She/He was just using me".
People, particularly women since it's biologically easier for them, have been using sex to compromise, blackmail and humiliate each other ever since humans began.
Where people go wrong these days is telling the difference between manipulation and consent, and believing that manipulation should count as non-consent.