From the article:

An eight-year-old Yemeni girl has died of internal sexual injuries after spending her wedding night with a husband five times her age. ...

It says Kuwaiti activists have called for action against the man, who is 40, as well as the girl's family for allowing the marriage.

Um...duh.

The assumption that her readers can't remember the multiplication table aside, "un-Islamic"? Does that mean actually against the religion? Or merely not what the adherents are used to doing?

Well, Mohammed was not exactly a "do as I do" kind of guy. He married six or seven (I forget which), but restricted Muslims to four wives.

I was just wondering if by "un-Islamic," they meant something like, "Thou should not let a virgin reach the age of seventeen before banging her."

If the Qu'ran doesn't say anything like that, and I suspect it doesn't, it wouldn't be "un-Islamic" to allow that little touch of civilized world to remain on the books.

To Patrick: Yes, it would have looked better had she simply said "a husband old enough to be her father" and then given his exact age.

But I suppose she bothered to say "40" in order to clarify that she meant that and not 41 or 42, since true math doesn't always apply in such articles.

People who don't look at freaky messed up things their ancestors did and don't think "Wow that was freaky and messed up, but that's how things were back then, and I'm glad I live now when things are different" are freaky and messed up.

The minumum age for sexual consent in Japan is 13.
What a terrible uncivilized country.

There are too many things wrong with Islam and Arab culture to count.

I really wish people would get off the child brides thing, because that is an endemic thing with Arab culture, and not really the major problems with Islam.

The lack of personhood for women, and marriage without consent are much bigger issues for me.

Isab I disagree.

There are other non-Arab but Islamic countries that do this. Afghanis for example are not Arab. But the Arab influence is undeniable. So saying it's just an Arab problem is incorrect.

That is because you have to remember that many aspects of Islam are culturally Arab. They are intertwined.

Child brides is culturally Islamic precicely because it is an Arab practice. Just like visiting the Kaaba, which had a pre-Islamic Arab religious significance.

ppen, We have a chicken and egg thing going on here. Islamic beliefs derive from Arab culture.

Sexual intercourse and marriage of females shortly after menses is common in many cultures.

I think putting the focus on that rather than the third class personhood of women, is a mistake.

It implies that if you wait until they are seventeen or 18 to force women into marriage,it is perfectly ok. If you do that, you are giving cultures with no real rights for women cover for what is essentially slavery.

Like I said before, Japan , with a 13 year old age of consent is not the problem.

Isab writes: "Yes, I am a rude, smug, patronizing, self-righteous snob, because I'm so insecure I need to gratify my need to feel superior every time I post."

Oh, wait. She didn't say that? Funny, somehow I hear that every time I read one of her posts.

Perhaps the age of consent is thirteen in Japan. Which is still five years older than eight, since you can't seem to perform basic subtraction. And eight being the age of the child who was fucked to death as reported in this article.

And I think thirteen is still more civilized than eight.

Of course it actually prompts the question of how many girls in Japan actually get married at age thirteen. Or perhaps the lower age of consent is simply to protect horny teenagers from getting into trouble for doing a mutually consenting act that horny teenagers are known for doing. You think?

Seventeen is too late for you, hun? Well, I still think it's more civilized than eight years old. Sorry to hear you don't.

I would be very encouraged by a nation who that had raised its age of consent from eight to seventeen. But apparently, you think both are equally barbaric.

lenona: To Patrick: Yes, it would have looked better had she simply said "a husband old enough to be her father" and then given his exact age.

Apparently, in Kuwait, he was old enough to be her grandfather (assuming marriages happen at puberty). Give him a couple of years more, and he could have been her greatgrandfather.

There is a whole world of difference between a forced marriage between an 8 year old an 18 year old.

"Sexual intercourse and marriage of females shortly after menses is common in many cultures."

These girls haven't hit menses yet. It usually occurs around 12-13.

"We have a chicken and egg thing going on here. Islamic beliefs derive from Arab culture."

We don't have a chicken and an egg thing. You're saying that it is not an Islamic problem but one solely found in Arab culture.

Here is your quote:

"I really wish people would get off the child brides thing, because that is an endemic thing with Arab culture, and not really the major problems with Islam."

I disagree. Islam is Arab culture pumped out to the masses. So it is a major problem with Islam.

"Like I said before, Japan , with a 13 year old age of consent is not the problem."

What exactly IS your point with this? We know the age of consent is 13 in Japan is ok because Japanese females can choose to have sex & marry whomever they please.

The fact that people view 8 year old as sexual objects IS NOT the same thing as lack of personhood for women. If women in these were seen as people can you guarantee these mothers wouldn't sell their daughters? I mean the fathers sure as hell dont seem to have a problem with it.

And btw selling sons for sexual favors is not uncommon either.

Male homosexuality is VERY common in these areas because of the segregation between men and women.

Oh, wait. She didn't say that? Funny, somehow I hear that every time I read one of her posts.

I think Isab's point is that if you give women standing within a society, they stop getting forced to marry at any age. The point being that if you focus solely on child brides, you miss half the needed reform. Focus on all women and you include child brides by default. Just my take on what's been written.

ppen:

And btw selling sons for sexual favors is not uncommon either.

Male homosexuality is VERY common in these areas because of the segregation between men and women.

Indeed, it is. When a friend of mine posted a humorous list entitled "You Might Be A Taliban..." I added my own.

Here's the original list:

1. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer.

2. You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can’t afford shoes.

3. You have more wives than teeth.

4. You wipe your butt with your bare left hand, but consider bacon “unclean.”

5. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.

6. You can’t think of anyone you HAVEN’T declared Jihad against.

7. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.

8. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.

9. You’ve often uttered the phrase, ” I love what you’ve done with your cave.”

10. You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least one.

11. You bathe at least monthly whether necessary or not.

12. You’ve ever had a crush on your neighbor’s goat.

As for my own addition, it was

13: You publicly stone homosexuals and adulterers, but routinely sodomize little boys.

But I'm sure nothing in your post was intended to conflate homosexuality with pedophilia.

Miguel, thank you very much. That was precisely the effect I was going for, since I like to give back what I get. Nice to know it worked.

Matt, thanks for the recap. That's what I thought Isab was getting at, but before caffeine or 10 am everything seems a bit hazy until someone puts a fine point on it.