Gulf War 2's Second Casualty
If the first casualty of war is truth, the second might be contemporary Western feminism. Or so argues Wendy McElroy in an interesting col over at ifeminists.com:
Western feminism rests on the concept of patriarchy ? the class system of male domination and female oppression. The traditional family and family roles are considered to be basic building blocks of patriarchy. This leaves little room for liberated women to embrace men or the family structure.
Western feminists seem to have three options with regard to their Islamic "sisters": 1) open up the definition of feminism and accept them within it; 2) ignore them; and, 3) misrepresent Muslim women in such a manner as to make them politically acceptable.
Noting that Islamic feminists tend to be far more pro-religion and pro-traditional family than their Western counterparts, McElroy concludes that Western feminists will choose option number 3 to reduce cognitive dissonance. In fact, she claims, they've already done this.
If you doubt this, ask yourself: Do you believe "Islamic feminism" is a contradiction in terms … and is your belief based on equating the oppression of Afghan women under the Taliban with the treatment of all women under Islam? If so, you have accepted the prevailing Western feminist view of Islamic feminism.