One of the classic strategies of Western colonialism is "white men protecting brown women from brown men," in the words of post-colonial theorist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. (Handy discussion on PDF.) This strategy also is a staple of Islamophobic discourse.
One salient fact that flies in the face of the idea that Islam is a one-way ticket to women's oppression is that several Muslim majority countries have higher levels of female representation in national legislatures than the United States does.
The Interparliamentary Union has compiled the data.
Let's take a closer look on the flip.
Earlier this year, The Nation asked why does the U.S. still have so few women in office? From the Interparliamentary Union's date, as of November 1, the United States ranked 80th in female representation in national legislatures, with women holding 18.3% of the seats.
Let's look at some of the competition:
Senegal is a 95% Muslim nation, with 43.3% of seats held by women.
Algeria is a 99% Muslim nation, with 31.6% of seats held by women.
Tunisia is a 99% Muslim nation, with 31.3% of seats held by women.
Afghanistan is a 99% Muslim nation, with 27.7% of seats held by women.
Turkmenistan is an 87% Muslim nation, with 26.4% of seats held by women. It just inches ahead of France in terms of percentage of women legislators; France has seen the rhetoric of "Western feminism against Islamic misogyny" in its purest form.
Iraq is a 99% Muslim nation, with 25.3% of seats held by women.
Kazakhstan is a 70% Muslim country with 25.2% of seats held by women.
Mauritania is a state with Islam as the state religion, with nearly 100% Muslim adherents, and 25.2% of legislative seats held by women.
Sudan is a 69% Muslim nation, with 24.3% of seats held by women.
Kyrgyzstan is an approximately 80% Muslim nation with 23.3% of seats held by women. Kyrgyzstan just edges out the United Kingdom with respect to women in the legislature.
You can read about Muslim female political leaders on Wikipedia, with the usual grain of salt.
None of these statistics show that the work for women's equality in any context is complete. The Side Entrance project, which highlights women's inequality in mosques, is one example of Muslim women's need to struggle. However, the picture is more complicated than "Islam is misogynistic." A rich body of Islamic feminism exists, with vibrant and diverse voices ranging from Fatima Mernissi to Amina Wadud and many, many more. The fact that several Muslim nations elect women at higher rates than United States citizens do should give pause to all who consider Muslim's feminists' struggles a Quixotic effort.