Well, until just recently, the concept of 'marital rape' didn't exist, it was legally impossible for a man to rape his wife - and that's in our mighty and idealistic Western culture. Violence against women, treating them as inferior has long been humanity's shame - no culture is innocent of it. People have always used religion as an excuse for this power imbalance, too. Christians, Muslims, whoever.

Women are still treated worse than their male counterparts, denied job opportunities and paid less than men with similar qualifications. Like it or not, our culture still treats women as inferior.

I believe that the intensity with which women are repressed by strict Islamic states is repulsive, and needs to be changed in order to bring their societies forward... but really, other cultures need to look at their own history and own present reality before looking for another excuse to lash out at Arabs in general. "Gender equality" is still a myth everywhere; spousal abuse harms far more women than men, and victims are always afraid to report it. The worst traits of humanity are the ones found most often.