[VarlosZ]

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You're see to be thinking more of the "live with me or I'll kill ya" type.

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Not quite. I'm thinking more along the lines of the "he beats on me but I love him anyway" type.

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You've very wrong about abused wives ( and children) that return. They really do think they 'deserve' it or at least it's their fault and if they'd just not cause it...yadda yadda.

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I don't think it's that simple. Nor is it as simple as I implied. I don't have much experience with this sort of thing, but there's got to be a continuum, no?

Even if you're completely right about abused wives in America, how much can that really tell us about Muslim women in Saudi Arabia? With what degree of certainty can you judge the psychology of an entire society which is almost totally alien to you? How certain do you have to be to permit you write off the stated preferences of the victims because you know better?

I honestly don't know the answers to these questions, but I think there's a degree to which we should err on the side of non-judgmentalism. Why? Because that's what we'd want from other cultures who may be judging us harshly for our differences.