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The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 297.082
EAN: 9780743288330
ISBN: 0743288335
Label: Free Press
Manufacturer: Free Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 187
Publication Date: April 25, 2006
Publisher: Free Press
Studio: Free Press
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Editorial Review:
Muslims who explore sources of morality other than Islam are threatened with death, and Muslim women who escape the virgins' cage are branded whores. So asserts Ayaan Hirsi Ali's profound meditation on Islam and the role of women, the rights of the individual, the roots of fanaticism, and Western policies toward Islamic countries and immigrant communities. Hard-hitting, outspoken, and controversial, The Caged Virgin is a call to arms for the emancipation of women from a brutal religious and cultural oppression and from an outdated cult of virginity. It is a defiant call for clear thinking and for an Islamic Enlightenment. But it is also the courageous story of how Hirsi Ali herself fought back against everyone who tried to force her to submit to a traditional Muslim woman's life and how she became a voice of reform.
Born in Somalia and raised Muslim, but outraged by her religion's hostility toward women, Hirsi Ali escaped an arranged marriage to a distant relative and fled to the Netherlands. There, she learned Dutch, worked as an interpreter in abortion clinics and shelters for battered women, earned a college degree, and started a career in politics as a Dutch parliamentarian. In November 2004, the violent murder on an Amsterdam street of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, with whom Hirsi Ali had written a film about women and Islam called Submission, changed her life. Threatened by the same group that slew van Gogh, Hirsi Ali now has round-the-clock protection, but has not allowed these circumstances to compromise her fierce criticism of the treatment of Muslim women, of Islamic governments' attempts to silence any questioning of their traditions, and of Western governments' blind tolerance of practices such as genital mutilation and forced marriages of female minors occurring in their countries.
Hirsi Ali relates her experiences as a Muslim woman so that oppressed Muslim women can take heart and seek their own liberation. Drawing on her love of reason and the Enlightenment philosophers on whose principles democracy was founded, she presents her firsthand knowledge of the Islamic worldview and advises Westerners how best to address the great divide that currently exists between the West and Islamic nations and between Muslim immigrants and their adopted countries.
An international bestseller -- with updated information for American readers and two new essays added for this edition -- The Caged Virgin is a compelling, courageous, eye-opening work.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Enlightenment
How lucky we American women are........I never realized the difficulties of being born a woman in an Islam society......The author introduces the reader to the plight of innocent females of all ages...What a tragedy that such horrible and unimaginable crimes are inflicted on females by family members and others....All women in this world should be outraged and aware of these abominable injustices.
Rating: - Brilliant!
Miss Ali presents issues of woman's global human rights in an interesting and topical discussion especially concerning the world of Islam.
Rating:  - culture vs. religion
please do ur own research and read from reliable people who have proof to what they are saying. any one can claim anything they want and can write anything they want. for instance she says that fgm is in the quran, she should have said in which chapter and what verse (its NOT there!)
im not saying that her story is not true...i know that in a lot of countries (muslim and non-muslim) there are horror stories about the treatment of women, but least try to separate culture from religion, the ... Read More
Rating: - Non sense
This book is non sense. These lady is not Arabic and not Muslim. So, do not let her mislead you. We, Americans, are used to learn from specialists and read only peer reviewed articles by professionals. In the 21st century, you can not believe anything you read without evidence. Generally, I think nobody from any where in the world will be proud and we be bragging with his friends if his daughter lost her virginity !!! We do not need a book for that. If she is proud of her lost virginity, this is ... Read More
Rating:  - Infidel gives a more complete picture
Having read Ali's first book, I wasn't really impressed with "The Caged Virgin." I was expecting it to be a well researched documentary about women in Islam, but it turned out to be a compilation of interviews, speeches and commentary by Ali. There were many interesting points, but I found it to be choppy and difficult to keep my attention focused on the book. If you're interested in a more in-depth look at women in Islam with a first-person account, I suggest reading "Infidel" (also by Ayaan Hirsi ... Read More
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