While I generally agree with the article, I would like to comment on two issues: 

1. Saudi Arabia. My tendency is to agree with the things said about that country. But, a few years ago I had, for three years, a female M.Sc. student from Saudi Arabia, here in the Prairies. She was here with her husband and her son, and they didn't have financial troubles. Yet, she couldn't wait to go back to Saudi Arabia. Which probably shows that things are not so black and white about a culture we don't understand. 

2. Genital mutilation: I abhor genital mutilation. But the double standard puzzles me: female genital mutilation is a backwards horrible practice, yet male genital mutilation (circumcision) is normal and even recommended by physicians.