This was originally published at my personal site.

Phyllis Chesler and Naomi Wolf have gotten themselves into a battle royale over…the veil.

And everyone seems to be concerned what two privileged non-Muslim white ladies think about this subject. Funny, considering Chesler picks fights all the time, and no one seemed to be interested in an actual debate she had with Dorchen Leidholdt a few months ago about Islam and women that was actually informed and somewhat rational (on Dorchen’s end, anyway).

What’s most interesting about this “debate” is that neither women have qualifications that make their opinions hold weight. Phyllis “Feminist Hawk” Chelser is a notorious Islamophobe, and Naomi’s experience with the veil came from putting on Pakistani clothing (“shalwar kameez”) in Morocco. Uh-huh.

Furthermore, neither of them seem particularly interested in what actual Muslim women who wear any type of hijab think. Natalia Antonova put it best:

The publicity must be pretty good for both Wolf and Chesler right about now … but if I was a Muslim woman watching all of this, I’d probably feel as though I was in a room full of people who were telling me to be quiet when the adults are talking.

I’d say that’s about right.