We Spread That Freedom Far and Wide ...

Laura Bush assured us we were bringing freedom to the women of Iraq.

Furthermore, extremists in both Sunni and Shiite areas have taken over pockets of the country and imposed their own Taliban-like laws on the population, requiring women to wear full-length veils, segregating the sexes in public and forbidding such activities as singing and dancing. Hair salons are bombed, and many have gone under-ground. Women college students are stopped and harassed on campuses, so going to school is a risk. “I don’t have one woman friend who has not been harassed, or worse, on the street,” says Mohammed. Women who work for OWFI (Organisation for Women's Freedom in Iraq) are routinely threatened with beatings or rape if they aren’t completely veiled. Islamist “misery gangs” regularly patrol the streets in many areas, beating and harassing women who are not “properly” dressed or behaved.

"The Talibanization of Iraq," by Bay Fang

Just as conservatives try to claim feminists have ignored women in Islamic countries. (Via Zuzu at Feministe)

Right.

Fun with Paternalism

The head of the Bishop's Pro-Life Activities in Omaha, NE, displeased by the College of Saint Mary's choice of commencement speakers, asks the people of the diocese to "take a stand and to prevent the College of St. Mary's from tarnishing its reputation."

Because a college full of grown women can't make that decision for themselves.