Are Muslim Nations Worse On Women's Rights?

Noted anti-Muslim bigot Bill Maher, a Hollywood hack who has a delusional inflation of his own intelligence and is known for his pathetic middle age forays to the Playboy Mansion (you see, Maher was a loser in high school and college with obnoxious hair his entire life and now that he has money he is compensating for all his sex-less youth because now fake chics "like" him), recently stated on his HBO show that Muslim men are inherently misogynistic and his "proof" is that he has spoken to women who have dated Arab men and the reviews are not good. And then he tells the story of a Muslim man who beheaded his wife.

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This is akin to citing Bernie Madoff and alleged comments by "some people" who have had a Jewish business partner as "evidence" that Jews are corrupt with money. It is antisemitic in that case and atrociously anti-Muslim in Maher's.

His central point was that Muslim nations lag in women's rights behind the West. That is true. But Maher was way-off, ahistorical and prejudicial in making his case. As usual, when it comes to Islam he is greatly animated with clear hatred for Arabs and Muslims; no doubt due to his pro-Israel views.

First, the West is no ideal sitting for women. One in four American women have suffered domestic abuses and the doyen of American feminists Betty Friedan admitted in her memoirs she herself was a victim. Swizterland did not grant women the right to vote until 1970. And professional women are hampered by all sorts of indignities and obstacles. And there are numerous other statistics worth citing. In response to Maher's comment that only Arab men have a sense of entitlement, his sole female guest told him all men she has dated had a sense of entitlement. The West is better, but that is relative.

Second, Maher made the absurd comment that 20 Muslim nations prohibit women from voting. Maher was clearly getting defensive here after push back from his panel and invented data. That is false, of course. Only one nation, Saudi Arabia, imposes such a ban. And instead of telling us such nonsense, here's an actual fact: several Muslim nations have had female heads of state: Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan. Their combined popular is more than the United States.

Third and last, Maher's comments was based on a racist belief that Arab men are congenitally formed to oppress women unlike in the enlightened West where women have always had equal rights and are not debased as sexual objects. This is, of course, bigoted and simply stupid. And a joke coming from a man who goes to the Playboy Mansion, a house dedicated to feminism, of course. Not all Arab nations or Muslim nations are alike: many in fact enshrine equal rights, Tunisia has outlawed polygamy, legalized abortion and strongly upholds equality; and many have allowed for political breakthroughs more than most Western nations as cited above. Islam is unique in that it is the only major religion where women are recognized as sources in the Canonical texts. And, lastly, the problems are not due to Islam or Arab culture but questions of poverty and education. Evidence shows that depth of reading leads to a more respectful view of women. Something that can be seen in the Arab world and in the West. Women's rights will came to all Muslim nations as educational and standards of living rise. This is a question of economics. And the first step toward that is democracy.

Incidentally, Maher has it backwards and says democracy cannot be established until women's rights are unequivocally upheld.

But who expects any sense from this arrogant, ignorant and hateful buffoon?