The problem I see here is not just wife beating, but that, since Islam was created by a man, Islam is inherently a system of patriarchy. And the problem with patriarchy is that it stratifies gender roles and gives men excessive power to control those roles, often times with force. For example - a Saudi cleric once said that all those who oppose modernization of gender roles should be murdered in cold blood.
In order to demystify patriarchy as a system of power and its use by particular economic modes, one needs to understand that patriarchy is a relatively autonomous system operating alongside the economic mode of society rather than simply derived from it. Neither is the mere instrument of the other, yet they are completely intertwined. In the transition from feudalism to capitalism, patriarchy changed in relation to the economic changes, but it also set the limits and structure of this change. Patriarchy alters itself in order to preserve itself, and these changes reflect real political struggles. This conception of patriarchy focuses on it s as a dynamically changing political system rather than a static one. the changes and processes one sees are part of the system of patriarchy and actually define it. They express its historical formulation. Patriarchy is no longer protected through a repressive legal system structured around the male as father as it once was. The redefinition of the father's power speaks to the changing nature of patriarchy, not to its erosion. These changes signal the presence of new modes of patriarchal control, the loss of former methods of control, and the modernization of patriarchal law. Women's struggles against patriarchal domination have been a part of this process, as we shall see.
What is therefore required is that the use of neocultural conceptualism as a challenge to the false sexual identities imposed by capitalist-patriarchal society.
Someone needs to stand up to people who threaten violence or refuse to abide by modern rules. Someone should stand up to backward "right-wing" religious fundamentalists who come into the West and think that homoseuxals should be tortured and killed, and who think that women must gain their husband's or father's permission to go out for the most basic of things like seeing a doctor for treatment. These people believe that women who show their faces are "whores" and are "asking for it," and that this justifies rape. They think that "offensive" cartoons drawn of a supposed "prophet" of a certain religion (I'll let you guess that one) should be condemned by all, and that the freedom to draw such cartoons should not be available. These are the same people of the same religion who will not condemn with the same tenacity the heartless and cruel practice of the "honor killing" of women and girls.
I truly contend that we should show principle, gumption, verve, and nerve to oppose Islam as a threat not only to the Western liberal way of life in general, but also to the women's liberation movement all over the world!
