[VarlosZ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've heard a few testimonials from westerners that lived in Saudi Arabia (or some comparably religious Muslim society) who, on the subject of Islamic treatment of women, insist that the vast majority of these women are living how they want to live -- i.e, they're just as religious and conservative as the men, and think the strict laws pertaining to women are just. I'm open to evidence to the contrary but, assuming that's true, it would be wrong to call these women "oppressed."

[/ QUOTE ]

Or to call abused wives in america that return to their husband abused because they obviously like it. Or children that want their abusive parents back. Or hostages that find 'good' in their abducters, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Come on, you know those aren't apt analogies. The abused wife doesn't think it's good that she and other wives are beaten, even if she does stick around in spite of it, and she certainly doesn't think that wife-beating should be institutionalized.

[ QUOTE ]
It's like the brainwashing of children situation. you can't respect somebodies choice/opinion until they've been able to appreciate the options, then if they make a free choice, go fer it. . .

. . . If it's true that that's what women want, by all means do it, but until they have a free run at making the choice their opinion is Stockholmed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sympathetic to this problem, but how do you determine what constitutes "brainwashing," and how do you differentiate it from mere culturally shared beliefs? These women presumably watch TV at home and have an idea about what their life would be like in western countries. How much can you discount their rejection of a western lifestyle based on the fact that almost every one else around them shares the same belief? And to what extent are you willing to apply the same standards to your own culture?

Example: I've heard that a common Muslim rebuttal to the "how can you treat your women that way?" complaint is "how can you treat your elderly that way?" That is, how can you send them off to die in nursing homes instead of doing whatever it takes to take care of them yourselves, as a family.

If you can say that Islamic women who prefer to live under strict Sharia law are brainwashed, could not a Muslim say the same about American elders who agree to spend their last years in a hospital ward surrounded by strangers?

[ QUOTE ]
What about women from other countries that marry in or work and live in one of these cultures. Do they generally say, " yep, this is much better for us women".?

[/ QUOTE ]

I doubt it, but that works both ways.