Feminism absent in the fight against Muslim extremist
Image via WikipediaFeminism as a "movement" in America is largely played out. The work here is mostly done. The good news for those who want to continue the fight for women is that there is plenty of work left to do -- abroad.Women have been at the forefront of the Iranian revolution and they have been raped and brutally abused as a result of standing up to the religious bigots. In a post below their is substantial evidence that Qaddafi is using rape as a strategy in his war against his own people.
The plight of women in other countries is not only dire, it's central to global poverty and the War on Terror. Jihadism is largely a male problem -- no surprise, given that jihadis commit mass murder in pursuit of a virgin bonus in the afterlife.
Islamist extremism and oppression of women go hand in hand. While the correlation between poverty and terrorism is often overstated, the correlation between prosperity and women's liberation is profound. Female education is tightly linked with GDP growth, lower birthrates and even higher agricultural yields.
It's also tightly linked with human freedom and decency, which is why no Islamic "spring" is possible without a feminist revolution. Countless Islamist countries practice gender apartheid and countenance wife-beating, honor killings and female genital mutilation. Islamist radicals have thrown acid in the faces of young girls for trying to go to school.
In Turkey, long the crown jewel of secular, modern and moderate Islam, the murder rate of women has risen 1,400 percent since the country lurched toward Islamism, notes my American Enterprise Institute colleague Michael Rubin. In Egypt, those who hoped for a secular and democratic revolution are dismayed by the army's burgeoning partnership with the Muslim Brotherhood and reports that the military forced "virginity tests" on female protesters taken from Tahrir Square.
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Unfortunately, most of the feminist in this country view their movement as one that is a vehicle for electing Democrats and not for pushing for the protection of women in other places.
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