Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Muslim Women

I recently got talked into reading Ali’s most recent book Nomad. So far, I find her logic to be impenetrable and her glossing over of the real challenges faced by Jewish and Christian families offensive. But since she’s a darling of the (often Christian Right) Conservative “feminist” movement and Europe’s growing anti-Muslim movement (which reads like a once strong anti-Jewish movement in a certain infamous country), I got curious to see whether others were feeling critical as well. This article articulates things better than I could:

Hirsi Ali’s personal story is undoubtedly compelling. What is surprising is her refusal to recognize the subjective dimensions of spiritual belief and appreciate a concept of freedom that allows women to define their own paths to empowerment, even if they are different from her own.

via ILLUME :: Reform or Renounce? Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Muslim Women.

Update: It’s surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly) difficult to find material critical of Ali on Google, which says a lot about what people want to be told about Islam, I think. So, I will keep adding to a list here of critical review of her work, for those interested in it:
An Atheist’s Idealized Christianity by Spencer Dew
Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Point-of-View: Narrow and Personal by Ghada Al Atrash Janbey
Think Before You Act: An Interview with Sherene Razack by Sharmeen Khan and Natalie Kouri-Towe (Note: This last one is a. behind a paywall [but cheap at only 99 cents] and b. does not refer directly to Ali. But it has a great discussion about the ways that people on both sides of the “veil” debate often just end up trying to dictate what Muslim women can and cannot do with their bodies.)
The Missionary Position by Laila Lalami (fantastic commentary on the intersections of Hirsi Ali’s ideas and colonialism)
Nawal El Saadawi – in dialogue by Sara Wajid. This one is interesting because El Saadawi is essentially the mother of Muslim feminism, and Ali claims that she is an inspiration. El Saadawi . . . does not feel the same way about her.