Parson Jim, your point about overly generalizations of the Muslim world is well taken. Indeed there are huge differences between Wahhabist Saudi Arabia and a secular state like Turkey (where the ruling AK Party barely made it against accusations of introducing Islam into state law, and premier Racep Tayyip Erdogan was almost banned from politics). There is a world of difference between Iran, where women can apparently still be stoned for having been forced to commit adultery (as in the Kobra Najjar case), and Tunisia, where women acquired legal equality in 1957 and have been improving their situation in Tunisian society ever since (have a look at http://www.tunisiaonline.com/women/index.html and other similar places; Tunisia is often mentioned as an example for other Muslim countries).

I agree with you that Ms Clak-Flory was generalizing on what we hear about Saudi Arabia and Iran. But now let me ask you: why do you especially accuse feminism? As far as I know, huge sectors of American society, both liberal and conservative, including men and women and people of all social classes, have simplistic and overgeneralizing views about Islam and Muslim countries. Feminists are neither the only ones, nor the most vehement ones. I've seen lots of people express quite angry people about 'Arabs' in the wake of 9/11, and to accuse Muslims of being 'those crazy guys with the funny clothes and the towels on their heads, like Osama bin Laden'. I've seen TV commercials making fun of the five daily prayers of devout Muslims. That New Yorker cover with Obama and Michelle seems to be playing on some widespread prejudice about all Muslims being fundamentalists and/or terrorists. I've seen potentially anti-Muslim cartoons, or even slightly so (remember the one portraying Muhammad in that Danish newspaper?).

Now, why do you think this is all the fault of feminism? I'm not Samuel Huttington, but I'll bet there's something more complicated that mere feminism at work here.

Which is why your claims sound like an overgeneralization. You see, if Ms Clark-Flory is wrong, it's not because she's a feminist; it's because she doesn't know the Muslim world well enough. If she weren't a feminist but still didn't know much about the Middle East, she would also probably say wrong things and make overgeneralizations. Feminism is not a necessary precondition for expressing bad opinions about Muslims. Look at the problems between Muslims and other citiziens in European countries: France, the Netherlands (especially after the murder of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh by Muslim radicals), England... There's a lot more going on here than mere feminism, Parson Jim.

You said: normal Muslim spouses I know treat each other like... nomral spouses from any religious groups. I agree; this is also my experience. For instance, I know a couple of Afghanis (yes, I know, they're not Arabs, and they speak Pashto, an Indo-European language like English) whose daughter Gesana is my daughter's best friend. In their house I see them treating each other with respect, and also their children; the husband washes the dishes, sweeps the floor, takes the children for walks, just like the wife. I also know a couple from Syria who I've visited less often, but who I'd also describe as pretty equalitarian (the wife works in a publishing house and has a succesfull career).

But then again, I know a man from Iran who confirms that women can be arrested because they're not wearing their veils in public, and honor killings do happen every now and then. The cases are out there, well documented, you just need to do a google search. So, Parson Jim, is it so much of a strech to assume that there are less equalitarian marriagen in places where such laws are enforced? That not all Muslim countries are like Tunisia or Turkey? That the Taliban and the Iranian mullahs may have had an impact on how much freedom women have in these countries for pursuing their goals? That such governments would actually not help women escape from (at least some kinds of) abusive husbands? That sharia law is not really the best for equality -- with provisions about women´s testimony being worth less than men´s, and having the right to only half of what their brothers can get in their inheritance?