Wente the liar

Wente continues her jihad against South Asian culture, saying, again, that it is backward and patriarchal compared to white culture. And once again she fails to present any actual evidence in support of her case, only anecdotes.

Is there a bias in South Asian culture that condones violence against women? Of course there is. Every culture in the world condones violence against women, bar none, and white Western culture is certainly no exception. If Wente believe that it is, then she, not feminists, is the one covering up for abusive husbands.

Indeed, for someone who claims to be writing all this in the name of feminism, Wente has a low opinion of feminists. Just listen to her various accusations:

• Yet [Western feminists] also excuse and even endorse patriarchal behaviour -- so long as it's imported from somewhere else. Feminists (along with folks like Mr. Khalid) were among the leading proponents of introducing sharia law in Ontario.
  
• you don't hear very many Western feminists standing up to argue for the right of South Asian and Muslim women to not be slapped around by their husbands
  
• Western feminists endorse the veil as an instrument of female empowerment.
  

Wente does not quote a single actual feminist who really believes any of these things. Real feminists argue for the right of all women, not just South Asians, to not be "slapped around by their husbands." I know of no Western feminist who has endorsed the veil - at most, merely saying that women should not be forbidden from wearing it. And as for sharia law, that is a flat lie. Feminist groups led the successful campaign opposing it.

The reactionary imam she quoted, M.D. Khalid, endorsed Stockwell Day in the 2000 election, not exactly in agreement with most Canadian feminists, unless you count Wente.

Not only is Wente a hypocrite and ethnocentrist, she has now revealed herself a deliberate liar as well. She is pounding away at a straw man - or straw woman - who simply does not exist, and Wente knows it.