What a culture of submissiveness means–and how it is enforced:
On August 26, Qatar TV aired a panel discussion that included Dr. Ibrahim Elias, and the Director of The Women’s Development Society, Imam Bibars, who discussed a study she performed in the Arab world: “I’d like to say that I found something that took me by surprise. I call it ‘a culture of the electricity cable.’ The men in the study did not know one another, but they all used to beat their wives with electricity cables. These cables are large and they would beat their wives.” In defense of beatings, Dr. Elias, a lawyer, explained, “If you beat your wife and it’s only light beatings in order to set things straight — that’s it…We tell him, ‘They are not considered an assault, but discipline.'” Responding to the question, “What do you mean by light beatings?” he gave an example of when a man should be beat his wife: “For example, a man comes home from work and finds his wife watching TV. She doesn’t even get up to make him food. He tells her once, twice, and asks again. If only once he would raise his voice and beat her, she would get up to prepare food for him and by the next day she’d be obedient. This will last for a week and when she forgets, he will remind her.” [“Arab TV Instructs On Wife-Beating”, NYSun, October 20, 2004]
The whole article is worth reading.