Why Feminism Is AWOL on Islam (Got a HUGE barf bag? You're gonna need it! INSANE Must Read)

city-journal.org ^

[DWSUWF]

"...the husband of Zahida Perveen, a 32-year-old pregnant Pakistani, gouged out her eyes and sliced off her earlobe and nose because he suspected her of having an affair..."

The life of a moslem is a rich tapestry, with many threads... It's simply not fair for us to sit in judgement of this poor moslem husband, whose honor may have been compromised by his wife's possible affair.

He did leave her with her hearing, which was merciful. If she was rendered deaf she would be at a considerable disadvantage with respect to understanding what is expected of her. Many a whack and a poke with a stick are now avoidable for her.

It's unfortunate that she found herself in this awkward situation. The moslem often refers to allah as 'allah the merciful'. It would appear, however, that allah has chosen to mind his own business in this case, and to defer to husband's choice of remedies.

One hopes that she is able to get her behavior back on track, and be a better wife in the future.

Perhaps, in time, her husband will be able to forgive her...

[orbital]

What a great article, and all too sadly, what it says is true. I've yet to meet a feminist who is prepared to condemn Islamic abuse of women (well, they can't do that because that would mean critising an 'oppressed people'). Feminists I've met in the UK endlessly spout hatred for the USA ('they have guns! they have capital punishment! they're anti-abortion!') but these same feminists are strangely mute when it comes to Islamic abuse in less developed countries. I remember a feminist once accusing me of being racist because I was criticising rap 'music'.

And I've seen a lot of feminists hide behind their gender. Well, if you don't promote them, you're automatically sexist; if you critise them, you're not criticising them individually, but you're criticising all women. A movement that started with legitimate goals, such as voting rights for women, has degenerated into a kind of intellectual facism.

[Fresh Wind]

women are instinctually peaceful

This is one of the funniest lines I've seen in a long time! Oh, and BTW Mizz Ruddick, "instinctually" isn't a word.

[Fresh Wind]

Oh, sorry, that's Hymowitz, not Ruddick that needs the dictionary.

[tm22721]

After it is too late, we will have realized that Ann Coulter was right. Kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.

BUMP

[JCG]

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, every day two women are slain by male relatives seeking to avenge the family honor.

The war we must eventually fight -- against Islam -- will be every bit as much a war of liberation as were those we fought against Germany and Japan.

America's Fifth Column ... watch Steve Emerson/PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
New Link: Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)

Who is Steve Emerson?

[BlackVeil]

I don't agree with the line taken in this article -that feminists do not respond to such atrocities. In fact, we are only aware of the case of that Pakistani woman because of feminist groups in Pakistan and the USA, who took up her case. They raised money, so that she was able to come to the US, and received corrective surgery by medical specialists who reconstruct faces after motor accidents.

The feminist support groups also provided legal advice for the Pakistani woman and her brother (who supported her) during the trial of her husband. The husband is now in jail in Pakistan. The brother, a very good man who stood by his sister, was given a small grant so that he could set himself up in a business.

Feminists can be accused of many things, but not inactivity on this case. They made it an internationally known crime.

[freekitty]

Something tells me that woman's rights are not their true agenda.

[sakic]

"The cult of masculinity" is also responsible for almost every scientific advance and every great work of art.

And yet many of those works of art are by homosexuals.

[livius]

Good article analyzing some of the many contradictions - not to mention plain foolishness - in feminist thought on this matter.

Islam has always been vicious in its treatment of women. If you go to the Alhambra in Spain, you can see the small fountain that one of the rulers filled up with molten lead so that he could punish his favorite concubine, who he believed was unfaithful to him (with a eunuch, I think!), by having his guards shove her face into the molten metal.

The Old Testament did have very restrictive laws on women, and we must remember that Jesus himself rescued a woman who was about to be stoned to death for adultery under OT law. But the strange thing about Islam was that it came along 700 years after Christianity, and after Judaism had stopped doing things such as stoning women to death, and immediately took a long leap back into the past.

I'm not really sure to what extent Islam can be "modernized," not only regarding women, but regarding politics and the state.

[independentmind]

I haven't read the entire article yet, but I'll hazard a guess as to why feminists don't talk more about Islam. They might have to confront the fact that religion has a great deal to do with how women are treated in various cultures. Specifically, they need to address why Christianity, in particular, has historically elevated the role of women in society.

Find a culture uninfluenced by Christianity and explain why women are, almost without exception, treated poorly.

[Morrigan]

I don't really think Islam can be modernized. Too many Muslims will resist that. Think about all of the Muslims that are estimated to be dangerous. Then think of twice that number that probably agree with them. They will never allow their religion to evolve in order to catch up with the rest of the world. That is why I think that eventually Islam will destroy itself.

And on the subject of Islam and feminism, I am a woman myself and find Islam disgusting. I expected feminists of all people to be denouncing Islam often and loudly, but when I didn't hear anything, I was surprised. I don't see how any self-respecting woman could condone, excuse, or practice that religion.

[Centurion2000]

Wow .... that's primordial level stupid stuff.

[SkyPilot]

I would agree with you that that particular case recieved a flood of international attention--mostly because it was first profiled in the Washington Post. I do not equate brave and human organizations like RAWA to be "feminist"--especially by the traditional American definition.

The CNN special Behind the Veil was a heartwrenching portrait of the lives of women under Islamic law that never would have seen the light of day without RAWA's support.

American "feminism" is held hostage to organizations like NOW, NARAL and Planned Parenthood. The members of those organizations care little for the plight of powerless women, but care more for their own political agendas--and especially their own power and prestige.

I guess the most tragic part of the case we have been discussing is reading how that poor woman tried to care for her children after she was mutilated. It is so sad.

Take care.

[SuziQ]

“Most women, Western and Muslim, are opposed to war regardless of its reasons and objectives,” wrote the Jordanian feminist Fadia Faqir on OpenDemocracy.net. “They are concerned with emancipation, freedom (personal and civic), human rights, power sharing, integrity, dignity, equality, autonomy, power-sharing [sic], liberation, and pluralism.”

If that is true, then how do you explain the esctatic mothers of Palestinian homicide bombers, so proud of their sons for being martyrs to their cause?

[Valin]

NOW and their allies have just about as much to do with womens rights as the Sierra Club has to do with protecting the enviroment, Jesse Jackson has to do with fighting racism, PETE has to do with animal welfare.

It's all about POWER and telling you how you shoud live your life.

[Valin]

convert them to Christianity

And how do you do that?

[ricpic]

"If guys are brutes, girls are the opposite: peace loving, tolerant, conciliatory, and reasonable..."

Is anyone, male or female, with any real world experience, naive enough to believe this BS?

[syriacus]

Perhaps, finally, because to do so would be to acknowledge the freedom they themselves enjoy, thanks to Western ideals and institutions. Not only would such an admission force them to give up their own simmering resentments; it would be bad for business.

Yep! Feminists can't acknowledge the real suffering of women in those countries. They would jeapordize their own chances to score petty points in the US.

Feminists know that mentioning the severe conditions of those women would expose the truth that they themselves are whiners, who make some pretty silly demands for themselves.

Feminism means you never have to say you're grateful.

Thank you for the ping, chance33_98!